The accounting scandal is far from over. Shareholders of the agricultural commodity trading giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM.US) are demanding the CEO step down!

It has been nearly a year since ADM.US, a major agricultural trading giant, disclosed an investigation into its accounting practices, leading to losses of $12 billion for this global Shenzhen Agricultural Power Group trader. Now, a shareholder and former executive of a company under ADM is calling for CEO Juan Luciano to step down, citing lack of transparency and the inability of shareholders to understand what exactly happened and how to address the issues. In a social media post, Hartwig Fuchs stated that ADM has not done enough to reverse the stock price losses and that the Chicago-based company "has not conveyed any valuable statements." Fuchs served as the chairman of the board when ADM owned 80% of Toepfer International (now it owns all shares of Toepfer International). He also served as the CEO of Nordzucker AG, one of Europe's largest sugar producers. Fuchs said, "If the well-paid CEO of such an important company cannot clarify the facts in a few months, that is, fully clarify the scandal, communicate the problem transparently, describe the measures that will be taken in the future to regain investors' trust, and most importantly, protect the company from long-term damage, then he must step down." ADM disclosed an investigation into its nutrition department's accounting practices in January, which supplies materials for human and animal production, and Luciano has bet on the future of ADM. CFO Vikram Luthar resigned. In less than 10 months after the scandal, the stock price of this commodity trading giant plummeted a record 24%, and it is still struggling to resolve its accounting issues. ADM disclosed in early November that it had found more errors in the way it reported transactions between business units, necessitating a restatement of some performance. The company canceled a quarterly earnings conference call 14 hours before it was scheduled, causing the stock price to drop another 12%. The stock has fallen by about 30% this year and is expected to see its largest decline since the 2008 financial crisis. "The market's response to ADM is becoming increasingly negative," Fuchs said on Sunday. He criticized himself for buying more ADM stocks. "From a chart perspective, the company's stock price has plummeted significantly, and ADM has obviously not made efforts to prevent or reverse this trend." ADM replaced its CFO, appointed AT&T's chief legal officer to the board, and implemented new controls as part of efforts to restore the company's reputation. It corrected sales between units that were either recorded at prices not close to market or included improperly classified transactions. Previously, the so-called 2023 intersegment sales were overestimated by $1.28 billion. This is not ADM's first scandal. In the 1990s, the company was involved in price manipulation, which later became the basis for the 2009 movie "The Informers." ADM admitted to price-fixing charges in 1996. The company also responded to lawsuits involving price manipulation in ethanol trading. In 2014, ADM acquired European natural ingredients producer Wild Flavors GmbH for $3 billion, its largest acquisition ever, and has since invested billions of dollars in the nutrition field. In 2019, the company also spent about $1.8 billion to acquire animal feed manufacturer Neovia from the French InVivo group. However, due to weak demand, including for plant-based foods, profits did not meet initial expectations. Fuchs said, "ADM and the people working at ADM are good people, they must be protected, and these negative reports must stop." "The stock price must rise again to a level that properly reflects the company's true earnings potential."