NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 25, 2023
Bismarck, ND – North Dakota Securities Commissioner Karen Tyler has ordered Joshua Link and Agridime LLC to cease and desist from selling unregistered securities, acting as an unregistered broker-dealer, issuer-dealer or agent, and engaging in fraudulent practices in connection with the offer and sale of securities. Link and Agridime allegedly sold investment contracts represented to be investments in cattle.
Agridime was organized in the state of Texas on April 13, 2017. Link is a resident of Arizona and is executive director and an owner of the company. Agridime and Link are also the subjects of a cease and desist order issued by the Arizona Corporation Commission in April of this year.
From at least October 10, 2021, until May 12, 2023, Agridime engaged in public general solicitation for investors through its website and through Facebook. Investors were solicited to purchase cattle at $2,000 per head and “make money raising cattle without having to do all the work.” Investors were promised at least a “guaranteed 15-20%” annual return on their one-year investment and were also promised a higher rate of return if they renewed their investment instead of liquidating at the end of their original contract.
Information obtained by the Department indicates the company has sold at least one investment contract to a North Dakota investor. The investment totaled $250,000 and the company promised a “guaranteed” 25% rate of return for a one-year term.
Investment contract disclosures from the company are only available to investors after an investment is made, and do not appear to include any material risk disclosures about the investment.
Red flags of investment fraud, many of which are present in this offering, include but are not limited to: promise of a high, guaranteed return over a short period of time; promise of a guaranteed investment buy-back; enticements to renew an investment instead of liquidating at maturity, high pressure sales tactics; unsubstantiated claims by the promoter of extensive industry expertise, unsubstantiated claims of success in previous projects; resistance to providing offering documents, lack of substantive information in offering documents, and claims or warnings that there is no need for investors to contact regulators.
Contact the North Dakota Securities Department before making any investment to determine if a securities offering is appropriately registered or exempted, and if the promoter/solicitor is appropriately registered or has a regulatory or criminal history.
View Order of the Commissioner
For More Information Contact:
North Dakota Securities Department
Carl Karpinski, Enforcement Attorney | 701-328-4881
cmkarpinski@nd.gov