Just a month before Taylor Fresh Foods began grappling with a sweeping multi-state lettuce recall, the Salinas-based company filed a civil lawsuit against one of its former presidents and his wife, accusing the couple of a yearslong, $32 million embezzlement operation.
According to the lawsuit, filed June 5 in federal court, Brian Thure, the former president of a Taylor Fresh Foods subsidiary in Tennessee, allegedly spent millions of dollars in company money on unauthorized purchases, including a UC Berkeley endowment, a luxury home in Hawaii and a 400-acre ranch in Humboldt County. Brian Thure’s wife, Julie Thure, was also named in the lawsuit, along with MTS Building and Electrical, an alleged unregistered sham contractor that the couple allegedly used to funnel stolen money and the contractor’s principal.
The alleged scheme spanned approximately four years, Taylor Fresh Foods said in the lawsuit, as Brian purportedly used fraudulent vendor charges, payroll, reimbursements, company credit cards, construction projects and company entities for his benefit. Brian, who served as president from 2012 to March 2026, also allegedly used his position to bribe other employees to stay quiet about “irregularities for his personal benefit,” the lawsuit read.
The company said it became aware of the alleged fraud after an IRS audit in early 2025, where the agency raised “concerns” about MTS and “other questionable reimbursement practices” at the company’s Tennessee subsidiary.
Taylor Fresh Foods accused the couple of dozens of purchases, such as using $1 million to fund the “Brian and Julie Thure Right Tackle Endowment” at UC Berkeley,” where Brian played football before he joined the NFL. A UC Berkeley news release about the gift was later taken down, according to the lawsuit. UC Berkeley did not respond to SFGATE’s questions about whether the endowment still exists or if the university ever received the money.
The couple also allegedly used the company’s funds to buy a $5.5 million home in Hawaii, the use of which Julie allegedly donated to Middle Tennessee Christian School for fundraising activities. Another alleged purchase using one of the corporate cards paid for a $15,000 golf cart for the couple’s Hawaii home, the lawsuit said.
In addition to the Hawaii property, the couple allegedly made another large purchase, buying a $1.5 million, 400-acre ranch in Humboldt and developing the property, which also cost “millions of additional dollars” for the pair to purchase supplies and ship construction vehicles to California, the lawsuit said.
Brian is also accused of putting his wife on Taylor Fresh Foods’ payroll, which allowed the couple to receive “unauthorized salaries and bonuses,” the lawsuit states. Other unauthorized people on the payroll allegedly included Julie’s mother and sister and the couple’s personal chef, personal driver, handyman, personal trainer and aquarium maintenance attendant.
Brian Thure could not be reached for comment by SFGATE by the time of publication.
The lawsuit alleges that Brian allegedly confessed to the fraud scheme on April 8 in a voicemail to the company’s CEO, Bruce Taylor, and in text messages to other colleagues.
Taylor Fresh Foods is seeking damages of at least $32 million, according to the lawsuit.
