Key Takeaways

  • Universal, a manufacturer of tobacco and agricultural products, disclosed in a securities filing on January 28 that it had "withdrawn its offer of employment" to Anubhav Mittal, a former executive at Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), for the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The change came about a week after Mittal's appointment was announced and the day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an accounting fraud lawsuit on Tuesday against Vikram Luthar, ADM's former finance chief.
  • Mittal's tenure at ADM overlapped with Luthar's, but he was not a named defendant in the SEC lawsuit. According to a press release and securities filing by Universal on January 20, Mittal was originally set to succeed Johan Kroner as the finance chief of the Richmond, Virginia-based company on February 17.
  • Thursday's filing did not specify the reason for the company's withdrawal of the offer but noted that Kroner would remain in his role until a successor is determined. The filing stated: "Based on the company's recent executive search, the company expects to select a successor in the near term."

Deep Dive

According to the January 20 filing, Mittal previously held various finance and senior management positions at Kellogg Company. He joined ADM in 2016, serving in roles such as CFO of the Global Pet Solutions business and Vice President of Global Corporate Development and M&A.

He became CFO of ADM's Nutrition business in December 2023, while Luthar had served as the segment's finance chief for about a year before being promoted to ADM's top finance position in April 2022.

Universal did not respond to requests for comment on whether the pending SEC lawsuit against ADM's former finance chief prompted its withdrawal of the offer.

The lawsuit filed by the SEC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the latest development in an ongoing saga surrounding ADM's accounting practices, particularly in its Nutrition segment.

As previously reported by CFO Dive, the lawsuit alleges that Luthar materially overstated the performance of the company's Nutrition segment in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, when the segment failed to meet operating profit targets. The lawsuit also states that "Luthar and other ADM executives knew that Nutrition growth was critical to investors" and that "to reinforce this message, ADM provided executives with monetary incentives based on Nutrition's performance." The complaint further alleges: "Certain executives in ADM's other business segments also had portions of their bonuses tied to whether Nutrition achieved its operating profit growth targets."

Last week, the SEC also announced settlements with ADM and two other executives over allegations related to the inflation of Nutrition metrics, following a multi-year investigation into the agricultural giant's accounting processes.

As previously reported by CFO Dive, the SEC found that ADM, Vince Macciocchi, who served as president of Nutrition from March 2018 to December 2023, and Ray Young, who served as ADM's CFO from November 2010 to April 2022, violated federal securities laws, and that Macciocchi and Young caused some of the violations.

As part of the settlement, ADM, without admitting or denying the allegations, agreed to pay a $40 million civil penalty. Meanwhile, Macciocchi and Young each agreed to pay civil penalties and disgorgement, and Macciocchi also agreed to a three-year officer and director bar.