The Securities and Exchange Commission says a Fort Worth-based cattle company was operating a Ponzi scheme that notched it $191 million in bogus cattle contracts, according to a complaint filed by the commission Monday in the Northern District of Texas.

The complaint, which was unsealed Wednesday, said Agridime and its co-owners, Josh Link and Jed Wood, redirected millions of dollars in investor funds to make Ponzi payments and pay its sales representatives, such as Link, his wife, Tia, and Wood.

The SEC said it obtained a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, the appointment of a receiver, and other emergency relief to stop the Ponzi scheme.

Wood, 62, of Fort Worth, and Link, 30, of Gilbert, Ariz., each own about 45.5% of the company, according to the SEC complaint. Neither responded to an interview request from The Dallas Morning News. An Agridime representative told The News the company had no comment.

The SEC said Agridime violated antifraud and federal security laws. The regulatory agency is seeking civil penalties, preliminary and permanent injunctions against Link and Wood.

In January 2021, Agridime began selling cattle contracts that promised investors 15% to 20% in annual profits, according to the SEC. For some contracts, the company boasted it could even get up to 32% in profits, the SEC said.

The contracts promised the company would sell cattle to an investor for $2,000 per calf and then buy the same cattle back after a year to provide the investment return. Agridime promised its investors that their funds would be used to buy, feed and raise cattle, according to the SEC complaint.

Agridime lured investors by telling them on the company’s cattle contract page that they could “make money raising cattle without having to do all the work,” according to the complaint. The page has since been removed. The company also said on its website that it knew it “sounds too good to be true,” the complaint said.

The company instead used at least $58 million between December 2022 and September 2023 to make Ponzi payments to prior investors, which means Agridime did not purchase nearly enough cattle to make good on its cattle contracts, according to the SEC complaint.

The SEC said investor money sometimes never went to buy cattle. The company’s success hinged on its ability to entice new investors through its website and social media like Facebook for its make-believe cattle operation, the complaint said.

Agrdime allowed investors to purchase cattle contracts online without verifying the investors’ income or disclosures and would send contracts by email only after investors had already invested, according to the SEC complaint.

The company was also acting dishonestly by never outlining on its website or in its contract that sales representatives like Link and Wood earned an approximate 10% commission for each contract sold. Those commissions saw at least $5.6 million go to a salesperson in North Dakota, $1.3 million to Link and his wife and $1.3 million to Wood, the complaint said.

The SEC also said Agridime’s cattle contracts were never registered.

The Ponzi scheme began to fall apart in early September when the company’s cattle contracts required Agridime to pay investors $123 million back in principal payments and an additional $24 million in promised profits. However, the company had a cash balance of less than $1.5 million by the end of the month, the SEC said.

This isn’t the first time Agridime has been in trouble. In April, the Arizona Corporation Commission barred the company from selling cattle contracts. Then, a month later, the North Dakota Securities Commission issued its own cease-and-desist order from selling its cattle contracts.

Agridime has violated both orders, according to the SEC. Agridime sales representatives sold over $1 million in cattle contracts in Arizona and $9 million in North Dakota since both orders were issued, the complaint said.

The company also benefited in 2020 when Harvest Returns, a Fort Worth-based agriculture investment platform, helped the company grow by increasing its ability to allow people to invest in its cattle.