Five indicted in Agridime cattle scheme
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Tia Link and Bang appeared for arraignment before a United States Magistrate Judge in Fort Worth on Thursday and were released under pretrial supervision. Jed Wood and Royana Thomas are set to appear for arraignment in Fort Worth before a United States Magistrate Judge on Feb 25. Joshua Link remains a fugitive, and the FBI requests that the public contact the FBI with any information regarding Link’s location.
Agridime, in its own advertising, said the 15% to 20% returns on investment — and even up to 32% — it guaranteed in the cattle business “without having to do all the work” were “too good to be true.” The company, which launched in 2017, purported that investors could “purchase” a heifer or steer on paper for $2,000 a head that would then be fed, finished and sold to consumers as beef — or $4,500 for a bred cow and the cost of feeding the cow until it gives birth to a calf to be fed to finish for beef.
Agridime had operations in Texas, Arizona, Kansas, North Dakota and “other states,” according to earlier court documents in the case, which came to light in 2023. Federal investigators shut down Agridime in December 2023. An enforcement attorney for the North Dakota Securities Department at that time said North Dakota appeared among the most affected states in terms of victims and losses.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission labeled the operation a Ponzi scheme, in which Agridime was using investor money to pay existing investors and commissions to salespeople rather than using new money to purchase, feed and care for cattle to be finished and sold to consumers as beef. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a federal court order against Agridime and its co-founders Joshua Link and Wood in June 2025, in which it ordered Agridime to pay $103 million in restitution, Joshua Link to pay more than $815,000 and Wood to pay nearly $1.5 million.
Joshua Link had served as executive director of the company, Wood as operations director, Tia Link served as marketing director and Thomas as financial controller. Bang was a cattle broker.
“The defendants allegedly used false promises to lure prospective clients into their scheme and then misappropriated client funds to enrich themselves. One individual, Joshua Robert Link, remains a fugitive. We are asking the public to contact the FBI if they have any information regarding Link’s location,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock, said in a statement.
The indictments allege that from January 2021 through December 2023 the five defendants 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. However, the indictments say the defendants 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.
The indictments allege the defendants collected more than $220 million from more than 2,200 victims in the U.S.
“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,” 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.”
Here’s a look at the indictments against each defendant:
Wood: 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: 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: 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: eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.
Thomas: six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.
Each count of wire fraud or conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison upon conviction. Each count of money laundering carries a maximum of 10 years in imprisonment.
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