U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a motion in Illinois federal court on Tuesday seeking an order to compel a vertically integrated cannabis company to comply with an investigative subpoena.

The SEC is investigating allegations that Geoffrey Thompson, co-founder of Covalent Collective, referred to by its former name of Doyen International in the Northern District of Illinois court filings, "may have violated the registration provisions of the securities laws in an unregistered offering of securities, and may also have made misleading representations to investors and potential investors about the operations, acquisitions, and projected stock price of Doyen and related entities."

According to a press release from January, Thompson stepped down from his role as CEO at Doyen Elements International when it rebranded itself as Covalent Collective. The press release said he would be staying with the company as a leader of mergers and acquisitions.

In the motion, the SEC said it served Doyen on Oct. 24, 2018. Since that time, the company has  declined to produce any of the documents the SEC is seeking. The documents the SEC is seeking include communications with investors or potential investors, documents concerning offerings of securities in Doyen International, and documents concerning monies received by Doyen International.

The SEC says that Doyen has no legitimate basis for "refusing to comply with the subpoena." In the motion, the SEC says that Doyen and its counsel have had over six months to turn over the requested documents.

"It is clear Doyen International has chosen not to comply with the staff's subpoena and as a result, the staff has no other remedy than the judicial enforcement of the subpoena," the SEC says.

The SEC noted in a litigation notice on its website that it is "continuing its fact-finding investigation and, to date, has not concluded that anyone has violated the securities laws."

Covalent Collective did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday. It is unclear if the company has a general counsel. Christopher Little, of Valerie M. Little Law Corp. in North Vancouver, British Columbia, who is said to be representing Covalent in the memorandum supporting the motion to require compliance, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.