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Any steak connoisseur knows wagyu beef is one of the ultimate delicacies, and the cows that it’s sourced from can fetch a very pretty penny. One man in Australia tried to take advantage of the lucrative nature of that breed but found himself facing a slew of criminal charges involving a tank containing enough bull semen to fetch a six-figure sum.
There are a number of different factors that can influence the flavor of a steak, but most dedicated meat-eaters know to keep an eye out for cuts that are marbled with the fat that plays an instrumental role in taking your eating experience to the next level.
Ribeyes tend to be your best bet if you’re looking to check that particular box on a relative budget, but if you’re willing to splurge, it’s hard to go wrong with the decadent (and pricey) wagyu beef sourced from cattle that have been bred for centuries in Japan to maximize the unrivaled marbling that defines the cuts that qualify for that designated label.
While wagyu can trace its origins back to that island nation, the four distinct breeds that fall under an umbrella where the Japanese Black occupies the vast majority of the space have made their way to other countries around the world.
That includes Australia, which was recently the site of some wagyu-related drama courtesy of a year-long investigation conducted by a rural crime unit in the state of New South Wales known as Strike Force Newbury.
According to The Guardian, a 34-year-old from the town of Grafton was hit with a slew of criminal charges stemming from an alleged scheme to rip off a former employer who asked him to arrange the sale of 200 cattle.
Police say he somehow managed to orchestrate a transaction that allowed him to purchase 114 of the animals—including 45 full-blooded wagyu specimens—himself for “a discount of almost $100,000” before attempting to launch a breeding operation to capitalize on the new acquisitions.
Law enforcement officials armed with a search warrant executed a raid on his property and also discovered embryos and a liquid nitrogen-cooled tank filled with bull semen worth at least $100,000 due to the inherent value of wagyu.
The 20 charges levied against him include cattle theft, obtaining financial advantage by deception, and animal cruelty, and he’s scheduled to appear in court at the start of August after being released on bail.