The media this week reported a Medford, Wisconsin man was sentenced to 1 year for defrauding banks.
Prior to his arrest, Michael Kraus reportedly purchased a mink farm in Medford. Fearing that he may default on his many fraudulently-obtained loans, Kraus reportedly purchased the farm in an effort to stay solvent. Sometime after 2007, the ranch “failed under a poor manager Kraus hired”, according to the media report.
Kraus’s name is not found on any fur farm list, and it is not known what fur farm in Medford he owned.
There are eight known mink farms in and around Medford, and at one time it was known as the “mink capital of the world.”