A murdered tech executive and cannabis entrepreneur allegedly subjected his workers to extreme conditions — including long shifts, verbal reprimands and forcing them to complete 500 pushups before receiving wages — according to courtroom testimony reported by local outlets.
Tushar Atre, 50, was kidnapped from his Santa Cruz County, Calif., home and later found dead on a nearby mountain property in October 2019, according to a statement from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office at the time.
Authorities arrested four suspects in connection with the crime: Joshua Camps, 23; Kurtis Charters, 22; Stephen Lindsay, 22; and Kaleb Charters, 19.
Kurtis Charters and Lindsay were previously convicted of first-degree murder in separate trials, according to KRON 4 and KSBW.
Testifying during the ongoing trial, Kaleb Charters said that he and Lindsay briefly worked on Atre’s cannabis farm in August 2019, reportedly laboring from sunrise to sunset for 10 days. They were promised $200 per day, he said, per KRON 4 and CBS News.
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Charters testified that he and Lindsay lost the keys to one of Atre’s vehicles during that period but eventually found them. He said Atre berated them for wasting his time, claiming his time had high monetary value.
According to Charters, Atre threatened to withhold wages and instead ordered the pair to perform 500 pushups in exchange for $1,400 — about $600 less than what they believed they were owed for 10 days of work, as reported by KRON 4 and cited by SF Gate.
KRON 4 also reported that multiple witnesses supported the account regarding the pushups.
Another unnamed witness told KRON 4 that Atre’s workplace environment was so difficult that employees jokingly referenced the possibility of him being robbed.
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A former assistant, Sam Borghese, also testified that while he had a generally positive relationship with Atre, the executive ran operations in a strict and often hostile manner, including allegedly withholding paychecks at times, per KRON 4.
Atre, originally from New York, founded the web-design company Atrenet. His obituary noted that he once survived being run over by a bus. During his years in California, he supported local artists and renovated homes, according to his family.
