KILLDEER — Tom Murphy said the money he expects to lose from his investments in the Agridime cattle company is substantial but “it’s not gonna break me.”
Still, he worries about neighbors, especially younger ranchers who put money into what federal investigators have now labeled a Ponzi scheme — taking money from investors to pay off earlier investors, until the scheme collapses.
“The young guys are the ones that are going to be in trouble,” he said.
Murphy said he knows of others in North Dakota’s Dunn County who borrowed against their property to invest in Agridime — literally betting the farm.
Most, but not all, are ranchers like Murphy, who has about 250 head of cattle north of Killdeer.
Texas-based Agridime owes North Dakota investors about $40 million, according to one state official. Killdeer-based sales representative Taylor…
