KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Prosecutors say a Missouri man has pleaded guilty to a $4.7 million investment scheme in which he defrauded 89 investors who believed they were buying cattle for resale.

The U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release Tuesday that 42-year-old Cameron J. Hager of Clinton, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering.

Hager operated 5A Holdings LLC. He admitted he engaged in a fraud scheme from July 2015 to September 2017. He solicited victims to invest in a “cattle fund” to purchase cattle herds to be sold later at a substantial profit. Prosecutors say he never purchased or intended to purchase any cattle.

He convinced investors he was locating herds that farmers in distress, which he would then fatten and sell to slaughterhouses.