Sale of Ponzi scheme cattle company could benefit burned investors

BY: JEFF BEACH

KILLDEER, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A North Dakota investor says the purchase of a financially-troubled meat company is progressing with a percentage of the profits being used to pay back investors in the alleged Ponzi scheme over several years. 

Wylie Bice of Killdeer, who is among those who lost money by investing in Texas-based Agridime, told the North Dakota Monitor that a price has been agreed upon to buy the company. 

“Our offer is reasonable,” Bice said. 

But several steps remain before the deal can close. 

The court-appointed official overseeing the company said in a July 8 update on Agridime.com that federal law requires three separate appraisals for each parcel of property being sold, “which is not a quick process.”

The update did not say a deal has been reached, but when it is, it would be submitted to the court for a 30-day review and objection period before it can close. 

Bice said the final agreement would likely include a percentage of the profits of the company be used to pay back investors over a designated period of years. 

“There’s always a chance they might get more than they had invested if things go really good,” Bice said. 

Investors in several states, including a high-concentration in North Dakota, lost millions of dollars by investing in Agridime. Agridime bought cattle, had them brought up to market weight at feedlots and processed in retail cuts of meat. The company then direct-marketed the beef through its website. 

It also sold investments in calves, promising as much as a 30% return on investment without having to do the work of ranching. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission in December accused the company of operating as a Ponzi scheme by taking money from new investors to pay off previous investors instead of investing that money into cattle. 

The North Dakota Securities Department said a Killdeer-based sales agent, Taylor Bang, earned $6 million in commissions from illegal cattle investment contracts through Agridime. 

Bang told the North Dakota Monitor in December that the figure was “way high.” 

While it is under investigation, a slimmed-down version of the company has continued to operate as American Grazed Beef. 

Bice said that if the deal is approved, he and his partners would likely keep the American Grazed Beef name. 

The investments in calves, however, would not be a part of the business plan. 

“No, I don’t think they’ll fall for that twice,” Bice said. 

Bice, Bang, and other North Dakota investors lost an estimated $40 million in the Agridime scheme. 

Overall, investors in at least 15 states are out an estimated $191 million. 

The July 8 update also says investors should be notified by the end of the month with a calculation of what they are owed. 

Investors will have 30 days to review these calculations and notify the court-appointed receiver  of any issues. 

“There were approximately 40,325 transactions made by Agridime between 2021-2023, and it took a bit of work in the company’s bank records to determine what amounts were being paid to whom,” the update said. 

It also said a motion will be filed with the court outlining the forensic accounting analysis of Agridime between 2021 and December 2023. The motion “will provide insight into the company’s operations during that time period and whether the company was paying returns on older investor contracts with money received from new investors.”