FBI 10 Most Wanted fugitive arrested in $220M Texas cattle sale fraud case
An FBI 10 Most Wanted fugitive was arrested Monday in California on charges of participating in a $220 million cattle sale fraud, officials said.
Joshua Link, the executive director of Fort Worth-based Agridime LLC, is charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of money laundering, FBI officials said. Link and his wife, Tia, are accused of wiring over $527,000 of investor money to buy real estate property.
The Links and three other people are accused of collecting $220 million from investors over a two-year period under the Agridime name, according to court documents.
Link and the other defendants told investors their money would be used to buy and raise cattle, then sell the meat for a profit, according to a federal indictment. The company’s bank accounts and website were used in the scheme, authorities said.
Instead, the defendants used the money to pay the company’s operating costs and fund their own living expenses, resulting in losses for more than 2,200 victims nationwide, according to court documents. Victims in the case included feedlots, ranchers and cattle purchasers, investigators said.
Link challenged the government’s allegations in public Facebook posts prior to his capture.
“The question remains, how many actual cattle were purchased by Agridime and how much meat in pounds was actually in inventory at the time of the government takeover?” Joshua Link wrote in February. “The biased ‘forensic’ accounting of the receivership paints a one-sided and demonic picture of these numbers. However, even just a glance beyond the surface shows the truth and fact that Agridime purchased more than enough cattle to satisfy all contracts.”
