Not sure if this made national news and I don't trade these instruments but thought it might be entertaining... Cody Easterday pleads guilty to scamming $244 million for fake cows | KOMO (komonews.com)
When I lived in Nebraska several years ago, a man pulled into a rancher's farm at night and loaded 40 cows onto the back of a trailer. He drove south to Kansas and unloaded them at an auction house. The auction house did not know the thief and did not recognize the brand on the cows. They did some research, called the police and the thief was busted for cattle rustling. Yeah, it's a real legal term. And he got 10 years in prison. But, he was essentially taking a man's livelihood away from him. And if the cows were valued at 1K a piece, that is significant money. And when I was in NE, a neighbor told me he went to court to fight a traffic ticket, and a man was suing another farmer because he bought a bull cow from him for some significant change, like 10K or 15K. I don't recall exactly. But he was suing the man, because he said he bought the bull to breed female heifers and he would not perform as intended. He said the bull was queer and he wanted his money back...lol. That would have been interesting to watch. Anyhow, cows are serious business in the Midwest.