In 2021, two Texas entrepreneurs started marketing a creative idea. For just $2,000, you could buy a cow from your couch. You wouldn’t ever touch the animal—their company, Agridime, would use your money to house, feed, and ultimately slaughter and process it. A few years down the line, they’d sell the beef, pocket a small fee, and give you back your money—plus at least 15% annual interest, guaranteed, and potentially up to 32%.
There was just one problem: The entire thing was a Ponzi scheme. That’s according to a lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week accusing Agridime’s two owners of lying about their business model and swindling thousands of investors out of $161 million.
