An executive of a company at the center of a $220 million cattle fraud case that spans 14 states was arrested last week after being on the FBI’s White-Collar Crime Wanted List for more than a month.
Joshua Link, 32, of Strafford, Missouri, was taken into custody on March 9 at the Los Angeles International Airport by federal and local authorities.
He was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering, including wiring more than $527,000 to purchase real property.
Cowboy State Daily reached out to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas, which is prosecuting the case, for comment. Calls and emails were not returned before publication.
Link was the fifth and final person to be arrested on fraud allegations in connection to Agridime, LLC, a Texas-based company that offered customers the opportunity to buy and sell cattle without the actual day-to-day care of the animals.
Between January 2021 and December 2023, Agridime allegedly sold cattle contracts to investors for about $2,000 a head, promising to raise and care for the cattle through processing and then return a portion of profit from beef sales to the investor.
The company promised annual rates of return between 15 and 20%.
Instead, the proceeds were reportedly used to pay the company’s operating expenses and funds owed to earlier cattle buyers. Prosecutors allege the group also used proceeds on personal expenses and to purchase property.
The five individuals are collectively accused of squandering $220 million from 2,200 victims in the cattle ranching, cattle buying and feedlot industries.
“Thousands of unwitting investors, ranchers and others in the cattle industry nationwide were drawn in and victimized by the defendants’ multi-million-dollar scheme alleged in this indictment,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement.
Wyoming Connection?
Cowboy State Daily has not been able to independently verify whether Wyoming is one of the states whose beef producers are affected by the case.
Wyoming Livestock Board Director and CEO Steve True declined to comment, citing the ongoing case. He told Cowboy State Daily last month the case is a reminder for Wyoming livestock producers to do their due diligence when buying and selling livestock.
“Everyone needs to be very aware of deals that they’re stepping into, particularly in this time of where the markets are today,” he said.
Others connected to Wyoming’s cattle industry, including Derek Grant of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, and Callie Hanson with the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation said they were unaware of any direct Wyoming connections to the company.
A person purporting to be Link defended Agridime’s legitimacy on social media last month.
When Cowboy State Daily asked the person if Agridime has ever done business with any ranchers in Wyoming, he replied, “Not that I know of.”
A Buyer For Agridime?
Meanwhile, a North Dakota rancher and oil field worker who said he lost millions in the cattle fraud scheme confirmed to Cowboy State Daily he is in talks to take over the company, re-brand it as American Grazed Beef and do right by the customers.
Wylie Bice said he became aware of Agridime after some of his neighbors invested with the company.
Bice, who was born and raised in North Dakota, said he lost about $3.5 million in his dealings with the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission reported that Agridime sold more than $9 million in cattle contracts to North Dakota investors.
“Everybody got greedy,” Bice said. “It’s my own fault. I know better than that.”
Taking over the company would be an act of charity, Bice said.
Bice maintained that Agridime started out as a legitimate company and that Link was “a five-generation farmer just trying to make his farm operation work.”
If funding to proceed with American Grazed Beef goes through, Bice said his company would operate on a much smaller scale.
“We’re going to slowly build it back up,” he said.
Bice said he was glad Link had been found.
“I thought he was dead,” Bice told Cowboy State Daily. “I thought somebody killed him.”
Background And Charges
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Link on January 29, after he and four other Agridime employees were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth, Texas, for their alleged roles in the nationwide cattle fraud scheme.
The other four who were indicted are:
Link’s wife Tia Link, of Smithton, Missouri, charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering, including wiring more than $527,000 to purchase real property.
Jed Wood, of Fort Worth, Texas, charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering involving wiring more than $63,000 to a lender for “Home Payoff.” Wood served as the company’s operations director.
Taylor Bang, of Kildeer, North Dakota, charged with eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. Bang worked as a cattle broker for the company.
Royana Thomas, of Arlington, Texas, charged with six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. She served as the company’s financial controller.
Link was the only Agridime employee who remained at large prior to his arrest last week.
The company was ordered last year by a court to pay $103 million in restitution to its customers.
If convicted, the suspects could each face up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud charge, 20 years for each wire fraud conspiracy charge and up to 10 years for each money laundering charge.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
