In just a season and some change, the McBee family ofThe McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysare making a name for themselves in the reality TV world, but their mounting legal troubles meanthey’ve also made a name for themselves in the eyes of the U.S. government.
The tale of a wealthy family of farmers in Missouri and the power struggles they’ve faced have captured audiences, but with an FBI investigation looming duringThe McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysseason 2,the family might have gotten more than they bargained for.
Currently,patriarch Steve McBee Sr. is awaiting sentencingfor his role in a massive crop insurance fraud scheme, to which he pled guilty back in November 2024.Steve isn’t appearing physicallyon his family’s reality show’s second season, but his presence looms large, andthe clues about the family’s legal struggles continue to appear as the show airs.
The Farm Was Constantly In Financial Trouble
The Family Was Subjected To “Random” Audits And Inspections
During the first episode ofThe McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysseason 1, Steve Sr. introduced audiences to his family and their business, McBee Farm & Cattle Co.Steve Sr. boasted that the company employed 250 people, and that his sons Steve McBee Jr., Jesse McBee, Cole McBee, and Brayden McBee were competing for who would eventually take over the company.
Signs of trouble began to emerge when the family discussed the seemingly random audits and inspections they were constantly subjected to.Steve Sr. brushed off the inspectionsas being because so many were jealous of the McBee family’s wealth, but now that we know that Steve Sr. was the subject of an FBI investigation,the “random” inspections seem like they were more deliberate.
Despite running such a large operation,the business was constantly short on cash flow. They struggled to make payroll, which seemed odd for a business as successful as theirs. Steve Sr. said financial struggles were common in the farming and ranching business, but it seemed like there was a larger piece of the puzzle missing.
The McBee family was always in danger of losing everything. After some bad crop seasons, the family business had taken on so much debt, andthey were fighting to remain afloat.
They Ran Out Of Insurance Claims
The Family Couldn’t File Insurance Claims After A Theft
Also in the first episode ofThe McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysseason 1, a truck is stolen from the McBee farm. Steve Sr. is hesitant to file an insurance claim for the stolen vehicle, saying that the family didn’t get any “love from the community,” which was an odd statement to make, as the two seem unrelated.
“We have theft, we have sabotage. Destruction of our equipment. It’s like the whole world’s against you. We get chosen for every audit, like these random audits. It’s absolutely selective enforcement.”
Steve Sr. was implying that the family had their truck stolen and that the government was watching them because others in their community disliked them. Even if this were the case, they should be able to file an insurance claim on behalf of their stolen goods, butSteve Sr. kept asserting that they didn’t have any claims left.
He’d rather eat the $100k value of the truck than file a claim on it. To have filed so many insurance claims that they were no longer able to is beyond suspicious, andit’s another sign that the family wasn’t being truthful about their business. Their legal troubles were hiding in plain sight all along.
Steven Sent Calah Large Sums Of Money
The Family Was Suspicious
In yet another telling scene fromThe McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysseason 1,Steven Jr.’s girlfriend, Calah Jackson, lets it slip thatSteven Jr. sometimes sent her obscenely large sums of cashwithout any reason.
As Calah chatted with Cole’s girlfriend Kacie Adkison and Jesse’s girlfriend Allie Ventresca over drinks, the women discussed how their partners would send them money occasionally, a few hundred dollars here and there. Calah seemed surprised by the low sums of money the other girls were receiving, and said thatSteven Jr. sometimes sent her $10k or $20k, which shocked the other women.
Even though Calah asked them not to repeat what she said, the damage was done and more suspicions about the family’s finances were raised.
Looking back, Calah’s claims of getting sent thousands of dollars from Steven Jr. should have set off more alarm bells.
Now, in light of the FBI investigation,it’s clear there were signs all along that the family might be in more trouble than they wanted to admit, especially on reality TV.
The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysairs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo.
