SuperConference Keynote Panel offers inside look at the story behind “The Informant”
The Informant was a 2009 movie (based on a book by Kurt Eichenwald) starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacrea bumbling executive cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expose a price-fixing scheme at his company.
April 23, 2012 at 10:16 AM
2 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
“The Informant” was a 2009 movie (based on a book by Kurt Eichenwald) starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre—a bumbling executive cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expose a price-fixing scheme at his company. The opening keynote panel at SuperConference 2012 gave attendees an inside look at the true story behind the movie, and one of the most important criminal antitrust cases in history. Panelists were some of the people closest to the Whitacre saga, from the FBI agent who handled the case (pictured at left), to Whitacre's former defense attorney.
The story begins with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a Fortune 50 food processing company. Whitacre was president of the bio-products division, and cooperated with the FBI to reveal the deal ADM had with its competitors to fix the price of lysine, an amino acid used in animal feed.
The FBI quickly amassed damning evidence against ADM—Whitacre recorded the president of the company as saying “our competitors are our friends; our customers are the enemy.”
The problem “was that we had a wackadoodle for an informant,” said panelistJames Mutchnik, who at the time was in the Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division and is now a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
Not only was Whitacre a reckless informant, once opening his briefcase to reveal a tape recorder hidden inside during a meeting between ADM and its foreign competitors, but he was eventually revealed as an embezzler, who stole $9.5 million from ADM. And so, the man who should have been the FBI's star witness in taking down ADM found himself with a target on his chest, only making matters worse by repeatedly talking to reporters against the advice of his lawyer.
“Matt Damon gave a good performance, showing how screwy Mark Whitacre was,” said Scott Lassar, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and now a partner at Sidley Austin. “It was supposed to be a comedy, but it wasn't so funny at the time.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllMental Health In The Workplace: Reasonable Accommodations Are Not One-Size-Fits-All
6 minute read
Photronics GC Placed on Leave in June Departs—With Company Paying an Extra Year of Salary
Inside Track: Late-Career In-House Leaders Offer Words to Live by
'You Don't Know Everything': GCs Say Success Leading Nonlegal Functions Starts With Humility
5 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
Nicholas M. DePalma and Christian R. Schreiber of Venable have stepped in to represent CP Management Services, CRS RB4 Holdings and other defendants in a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The suit was filed Aug. 30 in Virginia Eastern District Court by Greenberg Traurig on behalf of Daito Kentaku USA. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton, is 1:24-cv-01538, Daito Kentaku USA, LLC v. Comstock Partners, LC.
Who Got The Work
Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs partner Andrew J. Pulliam has entered an appearance for Steve Jensen in a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The action, filed Aug. 30 in Tennessee Middle District Court by the Law Office of Perry A. Craft on behalf of Timothy Robins, accuses the defendant of writing a worthless check for over $94,000 for the sale of auctioned goods. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Eli J. Richardson, is 3:24-cv-01064, Robins v. Jensen et al.
Who Got The Work
Lane Powell shareholder Pilar C. French has entered an appearance for Penney OpCo LLC in a pending consumer class action. The complaint, filed Aug. 26 in Oregon District Court by Hattis & Lukacs, alleges that the company markets fictional discounts for certain products. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai, is 6:24-cv-01414, Gamble v. Penney OpCo LLC.
Who Got The Work
Donald L. Carmelite and Coryn D. Hubbert of Marshall Dennehey have stepped in to defend the City of York, Detective Roland Comacho and Detective Lisa Daniels in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint, filed Aug. 27 in Pennsylvania Middle District Court by Levin & Zeiger on behalf of Noel Matos Montalvo, seeks damages for the amount of time that Montalvo was incarcerated over five years for the exonerated killing of his common law wife. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jennifer P. Wilson, is 1:24-cv-01459, Montalvo v. City of York, et al.
Who Got The Work
Joseph M. Englert, Brian E. Pumphrey and M. Laughlin Allen of McGuireWoods have entered appearances for Bank of America NA in a pending class action. The action was filed Aug. 26 in Georgia Northern District Court by Podhurst Orseck; Webb, Klase & Lemond; Crabtree & Auslander; and Morrison + Associates on behalf of the representative of the beneficiaries of the Arthur N. Weinraub Trust, a trust which contains residential real property. The suit accuses the defendant of overcharging the trust by selecting unnecessary and/or excessively priced insurance for the property. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr., is 1:24-cv-03780, Weinraub v. Bank of America, N.A.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
