October 4, 2022

A rancher who was convicted of defrauding two food companies out of $244 million, in one of the largest fraud schemes ever prosecuted in the Eastern District of Washington, has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.  Cody Allen Easterday and his Easterday Ranches Inc. had entered into agreements with Tyson Foods and one other company, whereby the two food companies would advance Easterday funds for buying and raising cattle, then be repaid with interest after the cattle were slaughtered and sold.  Rather than buying and raising cattle, however, Easterday used the funds to cover losses incurred from commodity futures trading, benefit the ranch, and benefit himself.  Easterday also submitted false paperwork to the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, the CME Group Inc., to exempt his ranch from certain position limits in live cattle futures contracts.  USAO EDWA

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud,