Two brothers have been convicted of a massive $240 million cattle fraud scheme in Fort Worth where investigators say they cheated more than 2,200 investors across the country.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, Joshua Robert Link and Jason Allen Link helped operate a fraudulent investment scheme through Fort Worth-based Agridime LLC, a company that sold cattle investment contracts to the public.
The company promised investors they could purchase individual cattle at a time for $2,000 each, to which Agridime said they’d use that money to raise the cattle, process them into meat, and sell them for profit.
However, the company used investors' money to pay operating expenses, cover loans, pay earlier investors, and provide excessive salaries and commissions to company executives.
According to WFAA, Agridime collected more than $240 million from investors while selling contracts for approximately 60,000 more cattle than they actually controlled. U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said during litigation, “Instead of building a legitimate cattle business, the Link brothers ran a high-tech Ponzi scheme, siphoning away hard-earned life savings to build luxury retreats and line their own pockets.”
The brothers were also concurrently running a separate scheme where they submitted fraudulent requests for cattle feeding and housing expenses through a business controlled by Jason Link.
Bank records show that the Link brothers used these funds for personal expense, including using $1.5 million to build a luxury five-bedroom, four-bathroom residence in Herington, Kansas, and $24,838 to purchase a 2006 Hummer H2.
The Link brothers each face up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud and conspiracy conviction and up to 10 years for each money laundering conviction. Their sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2027.
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