U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25914 / December 18, 2023
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Agridime LLC, Joshua Link, and Jed Wood, Civil Action No. 4:23-CV-1224-P (N.D. Tex. filed Dec. 11, 2023)
SEC Obtains Emergency Relief to Halt $191 Million Cattle Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it obtained a temporary restraining order, an asset freeze, the appointment of a receiver, and other emergency relief to halt an ongoing $191 million cattle Ponzi scheme being perpetrated by Agridime LLC, a Fort Worth, Texas company claiming to specialize in meat sales, distribution, and animal supply chain management, and its owners, Josh Link of Gilbert, Arizona, and Jed Wood of Fort Worth. The SEC alleges that the defendants diverted millions of dollars of investor funds to make Ponzi payments and to pay undisclosed sales commissions to themselves and others.
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed on December 11, 2023, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and unsealed on December 13, the defendants have raised at least $191 million from more than 2,100 investors in at least 15 states by offering and selling investment contracts related to the supposed purchase and sale of cattle. The SEC’s complaint alleges that the defendants told investors that Agridime would use their funds to acquire, feed, and raise cattle on its network of ranches and that investors would receive 15-32% returns while helping provide “fellow Americans with the highest quality farm fresh beef available.” However, as alleged in the complaint, the defendants did not purchase nearly enough cattle or generate sufficient revenues from cattle operations to pay the promised returns. Instead, the complaint alleges that, since December 2022, the defendants have used at least $58 million of funds from new investors to make Ponzi payments to prior investors and more than $11 million to pay undisclosed sales commissions to Wood, Link, Link’s wife, and other Agridime sales representatives.
The SEC’s complaint charges defendants with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition to the emergency relief granted by the Court, the SEC is seeking against all defendants preliminary and permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties, as well as officer-and-director bars against Link and Wood. The court has scheduled a hearing for January 5, 2024, on the SEC’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by enforcement staff in the SEC’s Fort Worth and Atlanta regional offices, including D. Thomas Keltner, Jonathan Scott, Carol Stumbaugh, and Cody Turley, under the supervision of Timothy S. McCole and B. David Fraser. The SEC’s litigation is being led by Matthew Gulde and Tyson Lies. The Commission appreciates the assistance of the Arizona Corporation Commission, the North Dakota Securities Department, the Oklahoma Department of Securities, and the Texas State Securities Board.