What was the ADM scandal?

Written by Editorial Team | Last Updated: August 2026

The ADM scandal refers to the massive international price-fixing conspiracy orchestrated by Archer Daniels Midland and several foreign competitors during the mid-1990s to manipulate the global markets for lysine and citric acid. The criminal cartel secretly coordinated production volumes and artificially inflated prices worldwide, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate overcharges. The investigation became one of the most famous corporate crimes in American history after a high-ranking corporate executive turned secret FBI whistleblower, wearing a hidden wire and recording hundreds of hours of cartel meetings. The scandal culminated in record-breaking criminal antitrust fines exceeding one hundred million dollars against ADM and prison sentences for top-ranking corporate executives.

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