ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 17, 1997 TAG: 9702170090
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DECATUR, ILL.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Archer Daniels Midland Co. is picking up the legal tab for two executives who left their posts shortly before being indicted on price-fixing charges, the company said.
In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ADM also revealed Mexican authorities are investigating whether the ``supermarket to the world'' fixed prices in that country.
ADM pleaded guilty in October to fixing prices of citric acid and lysine, a livestock feed additive. The company agreed to pay a $100 million fine and cooperate with prosecutors in related price-fixing cases.
Those cases include the criminal charges filed in December against three men who had been top executives at ADM: company vice president and board member Michael Andreas, son of ADM chairman Dwayne Andreas; former corn processing division head Terrance Wilson; and former BioProducts division head Mark Whitacre.
Wilson retired and the younger Andreas took a leave of absence from ADM in October. Whitacre, who made hundreds of secret tapes for the FBI during the price-fixing probe, was fired in 1995 after ADM learned of his role in the investigation.
All three men have pleaded innocent.
ADM ``has paid and intends to continue to pay the legal expenses'' of current and former company officials such as Wilson and Michael Andreas, the company told the SEC in documents filed Thursday.
Prominent Washington lawyers represent both men.
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB