Explosive Turn in Taylor Farms Diarrhea Disaster: High-Level Exec Milked Co. for $30+ Million for Gambling, Women, and 1 Aquarium Attendant, According to Suit
A company directly linked to the recent multi-state diarrhea outbreak is also embroiled in a massive scandal involving big bucks, gambling, women, and a former NFL star and his aquarium attendant.
Over the summer, an outbreak of Cyclospora — a diarrhea-inducing parasite — erupted across the nation. It was “linked to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and recalled by Taylor Farms de Mexico,” according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Taylor Farms de Mexico’s parent company, Taylor Fresh Foods, made headlines in May when it filed a lawsuit against Brian Thure and his wife, Julie. Thure was the former president of the TFF subsidiary known as Taylor Farms Tennessee.
The explosive suit accused the Thures of stealing $32 million in company funds for personal use.
The suit specifically spoke of a multiyear scheme involving Thure, his wife, an unregistered entity known as MTS Building and Electrical that was used as a sham vendor, and James McPherson, who allegedly controlled MTS bank accounts and helped route funds.
The complaint described falsified vendor invoices through MTS, unauthorized payroll for family members and personal staff, improper expense reimbursements, credit card misuse, personal construction projects, ticket resales, and unauthorized charitable donations.
The complaint noted that Thure fraudulently placed his wife on the TFTN payroll by listing her as an “events coordinator” from roughly 2013 to 2026. Her employment cost $774,900, though she performed little to no work.
Thure also added two of his wife’s relatives to the payroll, in addition to his “personal chef, personal driver, handyman, personal trainer,” and others. Though none of them performed any official work for the company, they cost over $5 million total.
Thure allegedly concealed all of the illicit financial activity by installing a separate internet connection, bypassing controls, and excluding certain payroll from parent company oversight.
Proof of this misconduct included a March 16 call with TFF corporate representatives in which Thure openly admitted to stealing money.
“During this call, Mr. Thure also spoke to his propensity to engage in extravagant personal spending on activities such as gambling and women, none of which were related to any legitimate business purpose,” the lawsuit alleged.
A month later, he “confessed to and apologized for his fraudulent misconduct” in a voicemail to CEO Bruce Taylor.
The suit also accused Thure of fraudulently placing a “personal aquarium maintenance attendant” on the TFTN payroll. This individual was described as performing no legitimate work for the company.
The attendant was listed among other unauthorized personal employees like nannies and housekeepers.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Thure’s legal team tried to delay the start of the case on account of learning that federal investigators were conducting their own criminal investigation into this matter.
“Unless the civil case was stayed, the lawyers argued, their clients might be asked to make potentially self-incriminating statements that could be used to prosecute them,” the outlet reported.
However, Chief U.S. District Judge William Campbell of Nashville rejected the delay request on Aug. 5.
“No indictment has been filed, nor is there sufficient evidence in the record to suggest that a criminal case will be filed,” he ruled, adding that under federal law, any admission Thure makes in the case can’t be used as evidence in a criminal case.
In his youth, Thure was a UC Berkeley football star. He later played for the Washington Redskins, now known as the Washington Commanders.
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