Top 10 Cattle Fraud Articles of 2018
This year there has been a noticeable increase in the number of cattle embezzlement and fraud cases across the country. The cattle market remained fairly consistent through the year, as other areas of agriculture profitability waned on news of tariffs, disease and trade issues.
Stay on your toes this year, as a business mind-set will be increasingly needed to maintain a profitable 2019. Take a lesson from these 10 stories of fraud during 2018:
10. Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to $4.7 Million Cattle Ponzi Scheme
On June 26, Cameron J. Hager, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. The Clinton, Mo., man defrauded 89 investors through a business called 5A Holdings, LLC, where he set up a “cattle fund” from July 2015 to September 2017. Instead of purchasing the cattle, he bought a Ford F-150 pickup truck, a Toyota 4Runner and two Winnebago travel trailers. Read more.
9. $3 Million Fraud Scheme at Arizona Cattle Market
One of Arizona’s busiest stockyards lost $3 million in fraudulent cattle sales at the hands of Seth Nichols, the stockyard’s 29-year-old office manager and son of Donald Hugh Nichols, a cattle broker who had been friends with Parsons for decades. Read more.
8. Fake Veterinarian Admits to Taking Part in $4.7 Million Cattle Fraud
Robert D. Hawkins, has admitted posing as a veterinarian in a $4.7 million cattle fraud scheme in Missouri. Hawkins aided Cameron J. Hager in defrauding more than 90 investors from at least 21 states in a $4.7 million cattle fraud scheme. Read more.
7. Arrest In Texas Over 8,000 Cattle In Fraud Scheme
Howard Lee Hinkle from Wichita Falls, Texas, has been arrested on theft charges in a case that encompasses more than 10 counties in Texas and Oklahoma, 8,000 head of cattle and outstanding loans of more than $5.8 million. Read more.
6. Minnesota Man's $300,000 Bad Check for Cattle Results in Guilty Plea
Jason Langerud, 39, of Hawley, Minn., purchased more than 200 head of cattle with a bad check, totaling more than $300,000, after a two-year failing business relationship with his partner. Read more.
