LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Five Agridime LLC employees and executives were indicted by a grand jury this week for their alleged roles in a $220 million nationwide fraud scheme involving cattle purchase contracts and one of the five remains at large, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Texas.

A federal grand jury in Fort Worth handed down five indictments with charges including wire fraud and money laundering.

The indicted include Jed Wood of Forth Worth; Joshua Link of Strafford, Missouri; Tia Link of Smithton, Missouri; Taylor Bang, Kildeer, North Dakota; and Royana Thomas of Arlington, Texas.

Joshua Link remains at large and is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, https://www.fbi.gov/….

As alleged in the indictment, each of the defendants were associated with Agridime, a business headquartered in Fort Worth that offered cattle sales and meat processing and retail services to the public.

The indictment alleges from January 2021 through December 2023, the five defendants acting through Agridime, perpetrated a fraud scheme in which they falsely represented to individual cattle purchasers, cattle ranchers and feedlots that Agridime would use their funds to purchase specific individual cattle for each victim, raise the cattle and eventually sell the meat from the same specific individual cattle for a profit.

The indictment said the defendants did not use victim funds as promised and instead used newer cattle purchaser funds to pay Agridime operating expenses, pay funds owed by Agridime to earlier cattle purchasers, pay personal expenses and purchase real property.

As a result, the indictment alleges they collected more than $220 million from more than 2,200 individuals throughout the country, because of "fraudulent misrepresentations" made in public and private advertising statements.

Wood served as the operations director, Joshua Link served as executive director, Tia Link served as the marketing director, Bang served as a cattle broker and Thomas served as the financial controller.

Wood has been 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."

Joshua Link 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.

Tia Link was 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.

Bang was charged with eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering, while Thomas faces six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

Agridime, an online beef and cattle marketing company, was ordered by a court last year to pay $103 million in restitution to customers who believed they were trading in cattle or cattle futures.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission brought the case against Agridime and its owners in 2024. Agridime and its owners agreed to a consent order handed down by the CFTC. The CFTC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission each had alleged Agridime engaged in a Ponzi scheme by defrauding customers through soliciting investors to pay off other customers and investors.

"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.

"My office, in concert with our law enforcement partners, will hold these defendants accountable and pursue justice on behalf of the victims."

FBI Dallas special agent in charge R. Joseph Rothrock, said in a statement, the five people allegedly used "false promises" to lure prospective clients into the scheme.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud count as well as 20 years imprisonment for wire fraud conspiracy. Additionally, the defendants face up to 10 years in prison for each money laundering count.

According to the U.S. attorney, Tia Link and Bang were arraigned before a U.S. magistrate in Texas on Friday, and both were released under pretrial supervision. Wood and Thomas are set to appear for arraignment on Feb. 25, 2026, before a magistrate judge.

Read more on DTN:

"CFTC Charges Agridime in Cattle Fraud," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"Agridime Settles Ponzi Scheme Case," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley

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