FBI agents delivered grand jury subpoenas to current and former employees of grain trader Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first full week of March, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The subpoenas were signed by officials at the U.S. attorney’s Manhattan office and delivered to recipients’ homes in the region of Decatur, Illinois, where ADM has major operations.
The criminal probe into ADM’s accounting issues was first reported by Reuters in February. The prior month, the company said the issues were the subject of an internal probe.
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Grand jury subpoenas order the recipient to produce documents or testify before a grand jury.
The subpoenas seek information and communications, including devices containing those communications, relating to certain ADM accounting information. That includes details on goods and cash transferred between company segments, according to the three sources.
Authorities were also seeking information on below-cost sales from the Carbohydrate Solutions and Agricultural Services & Oilseeds units to the nutrition division, one said.
They also require the recipients to report to a New York courthouse in coming weeks, the three people said. Reuters could not immediately determine the number of subpoenas issued.
Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing and do not necessarily result in charges.
A spokesperson for ADM, a $28 billion commodities giant that makes animal feed, sweeteners and other products, declined to comment.
Spokespeople for the U.S. attorney’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is part of the Justice Department, declined to comment.
A probe by the Justice Department, which has the power to bring criminal charges and impose steep fines, increases pressure on ADM and will likely weigh on its share price.
The company’s shares are down 20 per cent since it disclosed in late January that it had suspended its chief financial officer and was delaying financial results amid an internal probe into accounting practices related to its nutrition division.
ADM said at the time that a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry prompted the company’s probe.
New ADM financial results were expected March 12. The company had previously said in an SEC filing that it would correct certain sales between units within ADM because they were not recorded at approximate market value. The corrections are not expected to impact consolidated balance sheets, statements of earnings, income or cash flows, ADM said.
