Taylor Farms has filed a federal lawsuit in Tennessee accusing former Taylor Farms Tennessee president Brian Thure of stealing $32 million from the company through a long-running mix of fake vendor charges, fraudulent payroll and personal spending.
The filing says the alleged scheme stretched across roughly 14 years, ending when Thure left his role in March of this year. Taylor Farms says the money went for a personal chef, personal driver, handyman, personal trainer and an aquarium maintenance attendant, turning company funds into a private expense account.
That is why the case is being searched now. The company says the alleged fraud was uncovered in 2025 during an IRS audit, and the lawsuit lays out what it describes as a system built to hide the losses. Thure is accused of manipulating subordinate employees, internal reporting channels, accounting processes and computer infrastructure, including Taylor Farms and Taylor Farms Tennessee IT systems, to get around safeguards.
The complaint names Julie Thure, James McPherson and MTS Building and Electrical as co-conspirators. Julie Thure is accused of working as an unauthorized employee for 13 years, McPherson is accused of funneling stolen money through his bank account for a cut, and MTS Building and Electrical is described as the sham company used to move company funds. Taylor Farms also says several fraudulent employees hired by the Thures tried to withdraw their 401(k) balances after they were taken off payroll.
What makes the filing sharper is the claim that Thure did not just hide the money, but talked about it. Taylor Farms says he admitted stealing in a recorded phone call and later apologized to Bruce Taylor for his fraudulent misconduct. The company also says he spoke about extravagant personal spending on gambling and women, and that he used his position of dominance and authority to bribe subordinates into staying silent.
Taylor Farms, a major U.S. produce supplier that was once at the center of a lettuce recall and diarrheal illness outbreak, is now pushing its allegations through a case titled Taylor Fresh Foods Inc. v. Brian Thure, Julie Thure, MTS Building and Electrical, and James McPherson. The lawsuit does not say where Brian Thure, Julie Thure or the other alleged co-conspirators are facing criminal charges, if any, leaving the civil filing as the clearest public account of the dispute for now.
