The Washington Department of Agriculture has launched an investigation into how 200,000 cows at the center of a massive fraud allegation against a Pasco ranching operation may have slipped through its inspection process.
The ghost herd is key to a legal fight between Tyson Foods Inc. and Easterday Ranches Inc., which on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Easterdays, one of the largest farming and ranching families in the state, claims in court filings it owes more than $236 million to its top 20 creditors.
The Pasco-based ranching and feedlot operation is seeking to reorganize using Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy law amid allegations by Tyson Foods Inc.
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