Lieber, James B. Rats in the Grain: The Dirty Tricks and Trials of Archer
Daniels Midland. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2000. 428 pages.
In 1995 Archer Daniels Midland Company, the "Supermarket to the
World," had its Decatur, Illinois headquarters raided by 70 FBI agents.
ADM was accused of price fixing, and the feds had a mole by the name of
Mark Whitacre, who had recorded some conspiratorial meetings between ADM
officers and Japanese companies. All the defense had was the best lawyers
that ADM's money, and the political connections of CEO Dwayne Andreas,
could provide. In earlier years, ADM paid fines on other price fixing
charges, but this case was different: Michael (Mick) Andreas, who was
expected to succeed his father to the throne, was among those indicted
on criminal charges. In 1998 he was convicted and sentenced to 24 months
by judge Blanche Manning. Whitacre, who was already in prison for extorting
money from ADM, had his sentenced extended. (Once the FBI had the tapes,
Whitacre was charged anyway, because by then he seemed unstable and posed
a threat to the prosecution.) Dwayne Andreas resigned in 1998 at age 80,
and his nephew became CEO.
The author, who practices law in Pittsburgh, spent three years
tracking this case and sat through the two-month trial. This book is
meticulous in a way that would delight most lawyers. Others, however,
may start yearning for a larger social and ethical perspective.
ISBN 1-56858-218-8
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