1990's Business and the Economy | Business and Crime

Corporate Crime Wave.

American business, which shattered many records for growth and profits during the 1990s, also made its contribution to the annals of corporate crime. In one of the most publicized corporate crimes of the decade, the Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) agreed in 1997 to pay a record fine of $100 million for price fixing on two commodities: lysine, a feed supplement for livestock, and citric acid, an ingredient used in soft drinks and detergent. In exchange for the guilty plea and a promise to aid the Justice Department in its ongoing investigation, the government granted ADM immunity from prosecution on charges of fixing the price of high-fructose corn syrup, one of the two leading products the company manufactures. (Fuel ethanol is the other). The insurance industry also provided ample opportunity for criminal activity. In 1994 Metropolitan Life was fined $20 million for cheating its customers and Mutual of...