Following news earlier this week of the federal indictment of five people connected to meat-industry supply chain company Agridime LLC, the one suspect who was not in custody at the time, Joshua Link, reached out to AGDAILY to dispute the government’s allegations and assert that he and others acted in good faith. Those named in the indictment have been accused of playing a role in a $220 million nationwide fraud scheme centered around the Northern District of Texas.
Link, who was identified in the indictment as Agridime’s executive director and remains listed by federal authorities as a fugitive, was in contact with AGDAILY several times in recent days and said he was eager to offer his side of the story.
“Certainly. Let’s connect in a couple days and I would be more than happy to give you a full interview. I’ll be in touch in the next few days and let you know,” Link wrote.
His last direct message to AGDAILY was, “The war on agriculture is real. I pray that you will choose the right side to be on.”
That was two days ago, and he has not been in contact since. When reached by phone, the FBI’s Dallas Field Office declined to confirm whether Joshua Link is in custody and referred AGDAILY to its media relations office for further comment. An email inquiry has been submitted but no response has yet been provided.
Disputing the government’s narrative
According to U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould, a Fort Worth grand jury indicted Link of Strafford, Missouri, on 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.
In a lengthy statement shared publicly on a social media account, Link characterized online discussions of the case as “completely false” and described Agridime’s leadership as having acted “in complete good faith. Only good faith at every turn.”
He said that he and Tia Link relied on financials and accounting information provided by Agridime’s Fort Worth office and had limited direct involvement in those operations.
“We had no oversight over those operations and only even set foot in Fort Worth a handful of times during the course of our business,” he wrote. “Our Fort Worth office specifically handled all audits with the USDA and assured Josh and Tia Link that all audits for cattle purchases were passed fully and clearly.”
Link alleges that federal authorities froze assets, terminated legal representation, and prevented meaningful defense before taking control of the company’s operations.
“The SEC just froze all assets, fired our legal defense, and left us for dead unable to defend ourselves whatsoever,” he wrote. “Now the steamrolling continues.”
The others listed on the indictment were Jed Wood, Tia Link, Taylor Bang, and Royana Thomas, all of whom face varying degrees of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and other counts.
Questions over cattle purchases and inventory
Central to Link’s response is a dispute over how investor funds were allocated under Agridime’s cattle contracts.
Federal prosecutors allege that Agridime falsely represented that investor funds would be used to purchase specific cattle, raise them, and sell the meat at a profit, but instead used newer investor funds to pay operating expenses, prior obligations, and personal expenses.
Link disputes that characterization. He argues that the standard $2,000 contract amount was not intended to be spent entirely on the initial purchase of cattle, but also on raising, feeding, processing, and marketing the animals into retail meat products.
“It’s impossible to spend the entire $2,000 of each contract on the purchase of cattle; otherwise there would be no other funds left to raise/feed the cattle and process them into meat,” Link wrote. He contends that 40 percent to 50 percent of contract funds being used for cattle purchases — with the remainder categorized as operating expenses — is consistent with the business model.
He further contends that the court-appointed receiver calculated cattle purchases based on total dollars spent rather than the actual number of cattle acquired, and that reports did not adequately account for processed meat inventory.
“So 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?” Link wrote. “Even just a glance beyond the surface shows the truth and fact that Agridime purchased more than enough cattle to satisfy all contracts.”
Link also raised concerns about the manner in which authorities executed the investigation and asset seizure, claiming that no badge numbers were provided during contact with individuals claiming to be federal agents and that identification was not properly verified.
“You always have the right to ask for identification and to verify an agent’s identity,” he wrote, adding that he believes the situation amounted to government overreach.
Federal authorities, for their part, have stated that the indictment is the result of an FBI investigation conducted with assistance from the USDA Office of Inspector General. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has emphasized that an indictment is an allegation of criminal conduct and that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Authorities allege that from January 2021 through December 2023, the five defendants, acting through Agridime, 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.
They accuse the defendants of fraudulently collecting more than $220 million from more than 2,200 victims across the United States through false statements made in public and private advertising.
Joshua Link remains listed by the FBI as a fugitive, and the agency has requested public assistance in locating him.
AGDAILY has continued to reach out to Joshua Link for a formal interview and will provide further updates as additional information becomes available.
