That’s A Lot Of Green: Taylor Farms Exec Allegedly Stole $32 Million From Produce Supplier At Center Of Cyclospora Outbreak

A Taylor Farms exec and his wife allegedly gobbled up an entire salad bar’s worth of company green from the embattled produce business associated with the national cyclospora outbreak, siphoning off more than $32 million in a long running scheme, according to a stunning lawsuit.

Brian Thure, who worked as president of Taylor Farms Tennessee from 2012 to 2026, allegedly admitted on a recorded phone call in March that he used the cash for “gambling and women,” and was found to have added his wife Julie, her mother and her sister to the company payroll without permission, court papers revealed.

The couple used the cash in part to buy a $5.5 million Hawaii home and a 400-acre ranch in Humboldt County, California, according to the litigation.

“Mr. Thure continues to expend stolen funds, demonstrating the reckless and irresponsible dissipation of [the company’s] assets,” Taylor Farms said in Tennessee Federal Court papers it filed against the Thures in June.

Thure allegedly arranged for his wife and in-laws to collect $3 million, including his mother-in-law, who kept getting checks even though she retired in 2020, the company claimed in the legal papers.

Taylor Farms has been in the news for weeks after thousands of Americans were sickened by cyclospora-contaminated lettuce which was traced to one of the company’s suppliers. The parasite causes explosive diarrhea and can leave victims ill for weeks.

While the allegations against Thure are not connected to the cyclospora outbreak, they paint a shocking picture of out-of-control fraud.

Thure also allegedly used company funds to pay for numerous personal staff, Taylor Farms claimed.

“These individuals included Mr. Thure’s and Mrs. Thure’s personal chef, personal driver, handyman, personal trainer, aquarium maintenance attendant, and an employee of Mrs. Thure’s company, Bear Clover Consulting,” Taylor Farms claimed.

A probe later confirmed the “individuals [were] hired to perform services exclusively for Mr. Thure and Mrs. Thure [and] never performed legitimate work” for the business.

The company claims Thure admitted his wrongdoing in text messages, according to the New York Post.

Lawyers for the Thures did not immediately respond to Mediaite’s request for comment.

The post That’s a Lot of Green: Taylor Farms Exec Allegedly Stole $32 Million From Produce Supplier at Center of Cyclospora Outbreak first appeared on Mediaite.