Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. has agreed to pay $40 million to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that the agribusiness giant and several former executives misled investors through accounting and disclosure violations, federal regulators announced Tuesday.
The settlement draws a line under years of scrutiny — but not for everyone.
Former CFO Breaks From Settlement Path
The SEC on Tuesday separately filed suit against Vikram Luthar, ADM’s former chief financial officer, who declined to settle and now faces litigation in Illinois federal court.
According to the complaint, Luthar and other executives inflated the reported performance of ADM’s nutrition business, presenting it to investors as a growth engine while quietly reshuffling profits behind the scenes.
Regulators allege the adjustments were designed to make the nutrition segment appear stronger than it actually was — particularly when the unit struggled to meet ambitious targets.
How the Numbers Were Moved
The SEC said Luthar directed a pattern of “improper, post hoc” adjustments that shifted operating profit from other ADM business segments into Nutrition.
Before becoming companywide CFO, Luthar served as CFO of the nutrition segment, a role the SEC says placed him at the center of the alleged scheme.
According to the complaint, the profit shifts were used to ensure Nutrition appeared to meet annual performance goals publicly highlighted to investors.
“When financial pressure mounted,” regulators said, other ADM units were effectively treated as a piggybank to shore up Nutrition’s results.
