A federal judge will allow price-manipulation claims against food processing giant Archer Daniels Midland to go forward in a central Illinois courtroom, reports the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce last week found plaintiffs made plausible claims that ADM artificially lowered ethanol prices to boost the value of short bets it made on the product.
The named plaintiff, energy trader AOT Holding AG, accused Chicago-based ADM of aggressively selling off the corn-derived fuel to lower its market value and increase the payout of derivatives bets that the price would continue to decline.