AGRIBUSINESS

U.S. Reportedly Planning Indictments of ADM: Criminal indictments are being sought for agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and three of its current or former executives for alleged price-fixing in the global market for the food additive lysine, sources close to the investigation have told the Washington Post. The former executive whom the government plans to indict, perhaps as early as September, is Mark Whitacre, who acted as an informant for the FBI for 2 1/2 years while he was also head of ADM’s BioProducts Division, the sources said. The government also plans to seek indictments against ADM Vice Chairman Michael D. Andreas, son of the company’s politically powerful chairman, Dwayne O. Andreas, and Terrance S. Wilson, head of ADM’s corn-processing division, the sources said. Attorneys for the Decatur, Ill.-based ADM did not return telephone calls and company executives were not available for comment, according to a spokeswoman. In the past, ADM has denied any wrongdoing. Attorneys for Michael Andreas, Wilson and Whitacre also did not return calls. ADM, a $12.6-billion grain titan that bills itself as “Supermarket to the World,” has been rocked by the antitrust investigation, which began more than a year ago.