养牛投资骗局涉案2.4亿美元、2200多人受骗 Link兄弟被联邦陪审团定罪
美国司法部德州北区联邦检察官办公室宣布，联邦陪审团11月10日裁定 Joshua Robert Link 与 Jason Allen Link 两兄弟多项诈骗罪名成立。两人通过总部位于德州 Tarrant County Fort Worth 的 Agridime, LLC 公司，以养牛投资为名在全美骗取超过2.4亿美元，超过2200名投资者受害。
案件在联邦地区法官 Mark T. Pittman 主持下审理了六天。陪审团裁定，Agridime 联合创始人兼执行董事 Joshua Link 两项电信诈骗共谋、两项电信诈骗与两项洗钱罪名成立；其兄 Jason Link 经营 Shady Brook Ranch, LLC 并担任 Agridime 的牲畜经纪人与肉品链主管，被裁定一项电信诈骗共谋、两项电信诈骗与两项洗钱罪名成立。
检方在庭上证明，被告向个人投资者出售养牛合同，承诺用投资者的钱为每人购买、饲养指定的牛只，再加工出售同一批牛的肉品获利，单头牛或小母牛的认购价为2000美元。实际上，被告把新投资者的钱拿去支付公司运营开支、偿还贷款和兑付早期投资者的合同，还虚报公司拥有的牛只数量向金融机构、私人放贷方和饲养场骗取贷款。
法庭文件与庭审证据显示，2021年1月至2023年12月，Agridime 以虚假宣传收到超过2.4亿美元，向公众卖出的牛比公司实际控制的存栏多出约6万头。两兄弟还以虚假的饲料与场地费用申请，从 Agridime 套取超过270万美元转入 Jason Link 独自控制的公司，而相关服务其实已由另一家公司提供并获付款。2022年至2023年，共谋者给自己发放的薪金与佣金中，Joshua Link 与 Tia Link 合计超过270万美元，Jed Wood 超过240万美元；赃款还被用于在 Kansas 的 Herington 建造一座造价近150万美元的五居室豪华住宅、购买一辆2006年款 Hummer H2 等个人消费。
本案其余四名共谋者已在庭审前分别认罪：运营主管 Jed Hansel Wood、市场主管 Tia Makenzie Link、牲畜经纪人 Taylor Orris Bang 与财务主管 Royana Jane Thomas。按联邦法律，两兄弟每项共谋罪与电信诈骗罪最高可判20年监禁，每项洗钱罪最高可判10年监禁，另面临监督释放、赔偿与罚金。两人的量刑定于2027年3月4日进行。
德州北区联邦检察官 Ryan Raybould 表示，被告盯上的是相信自己在投资养牛合同的普通美国人，实际上运作的是一个高科技庞氏骗局，把受害者的积蓄挪去盖豪华休养地、中饱私囊。联邦调查局达拉斯办事处主管特工 R. Joseph Rothrock 表示，两人的定罪反映出他们诱骗投资者、挪用资金牟利的算计。本案由联邦调查局 Fort Worth 分驻处与美国农业部监察长办公室调查，助理联邦检察官 Mark McDonald 与 Allyson Monte 负责起诉。
Federal Jury Convicts Link Brothers in $240 Million Cattle Investment Fraud With More Than 2,200 Victims
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that a federal jury on November 10 convicted brothers Joshua Robert Link and Jason Allen Link of multiple fraud offenses for their roles in a cattle investment scheme run through Fort Worth-based Agridime, LLC, in Tarrant County, Texas, that took in more than $240 million from more than 2,200 victims across the United States.
Following a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman, the jury found Joshua Link, Agridime's co-owner and Executive Director, guilty of two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering. Jason Link, who owned Shady Brook Ranch, LLC and served as an Agridime livestock broker and Meat Chain Director, was found guilty of one count of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering.
Trial evidence showed the defendants sold cattle contracts to individual purchasers for $2,000 per steer or heifer, falsely representing that Agridime would use each buyer's money to purchase, care for, process, and sell meat from that buyer's own specific cattle. Instead, purchaser funds paid Agridime's operating expenses and loan payments and amounts owed to earlier purchasers, and the defendants fraudulently overstated the amount of cattle Agridime owned to secure loans and financing from financial institutions, private lenders, and feedlots.
From January 2021 through December 2023, Agridime collected over $240 million based on fraudulent misrepresentations and sold the public approximately 60,000 more head of cattle than it controlled in inventory. The brothers also submitted fraudulent requests for feed and yardage payments that caused Agridime to pay over $2.7 million to a business solely controlled by Jason Link for services another company had already provided and been paid for. From 2022 through 2023, Josh and Tia Link received over $2.7 million and Jed Wood over $2.4 million in salaries and commissions, and proceeds were diverted to luxury spending including a nearly $1.5 million five-bedroom residence built in Herington, Kansas, and a 2006 Hummer H2.
Four other conspirators, Operations Director Jed Hansel Wood, Marketing Director Tia Makenzie Link, cattle broker Taylor Orris Bang, and Financial Controller Royana Jane Thomas, pleaded guilty before trial. The Link brothers face up to twenty years in prison on each conspiracy and wire fraud conviction and ten years on each money laundering conviction, along with supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. Sentencing for both brothers is set for March 4, 2027.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said the defendants preyed on Main Street Americans who believed they were investing in cattle contracts while running a high-tech Ponzi scheme that siphoned away life savings to build luxury retreats and line their own pockets. FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said the convictions reflect the brothers' calculated efforts to lure investors and misappropriate their funds. The FBI's Fort Worth Resident Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark McDonald and Allyson Monte prosecuted it.
来源：美国司法部德州北区联邦检察官办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：德州 Henrietta 一处牧场的牛群（资料照片）。照片：美国农业部自然资源保护局（USDA NRCS）图库，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: Cattle on pastureland at a ranch in Henrietta, Texas. Photo: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Photo Gallery, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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