VISALIA (KMJ) — An Exeter man is now in Tulare County Jail following an investigation which crossed state lines and ended with his arrest in Texas.
Justin Tyler Greer is facing charges of stealing cattle, investment fraud, and embezzlement. The case was first referred to Tulare County Sheriff’s Office in June. Detectives were told by seven victims from California, Colorado, and Wyoming about a combined loss of $1.5 million. Each identified the 36 year old as the suspect.
“This is 21st Century cattle rustling and embezzlement at the highest level,” described Sheriff Mike Boudreaux during the announcement Thursday. “We recovered 900 head of cattle back to our agricultural partners.”
Audits conducted by two of the victims showed that hundreds of cattle had been stolen. Investigations established that 900 head of cattle had been shipped out of state and were illegally placed on pasture in Wyoming.
“In several different ways [they] invested with and partnered with our suspect Justin Greer in cattle venture investments,” explained Tulare County Sheriff’s Sergeant Bobby Rader.
“An example of that would be they would go in with each other in partnerships on certain herds or groups of cattle. Certain numbers they would raise these cattle to an ideal weight. Ship them to an ideal location, depending on the health of the market, and sell them for a profit.
“What we learned was that these investments were not returned to the investors. The money was taken.
“In many cases some of the victims in this case believed they were sold cattle that didn’t exist at all.”
Sergeant Greer said officials worked through thousands of financial documents, and issued more than 25 search warrants.
“This case crossed state lines. Lots of people involved, lots of cattle involved. Lots of cattle transactions involved.”
After tracking the suspect down to Texas, detectives from Tulare County Sheriff’s Office traveled there to take Greer into custody. He was arrested on December 28th and extradited back to Tulare County on December 31st.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
