The settlement concludes a regulatory investigation into accounting practices that previously triggered a significant stock decline and the departure of several top executives. ADM settled the case with no admission of wrongdoing, according to WSJ. According to the SEC, these maneuvers were designed to make the nutrition business — a unit ADM has spent billions to expand through acquisitions — appear more successful than it was in reality. While the company settled the claims without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the SEC has filed a separate lawsuit against Luthar in a Chicago federal court. The regulator alleged that Luthar directed the fraud and personally benefited by selling more than $1.8 million in ADM shares while the stock price was inflated by the misleading performance reports.