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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.

Executives, Incentives and Investor Messaging

ADM and its leadership routinely described the nutrition segment as the company’s future growth driver, telling investors that operating profit was expected to grow between 15% and 20% annually, the SEC said.

At the same time, executive compensation was tied to achieving those growth benchmarks. Regulators allege it was widely understood that executives were expected to help Nutrition hit its numbers — even if it meant disadvantaging other segments.

Despite that, ADM assured investors that inter-segment transactions were conducted fairly, without special treatment or backroom deals, and that internal policies mirrored those commitments.

The SEC says those assurances were false.

Settlements and Penalties Detailed

ADM, former President Vince Macciocchi, and former CFO Ray Young agreed to a cease-and-desist order without admitting wrongdoing.

Under the settlement: