Mark Whitacre
Mark Whitacre | |
|---|---|
Whitacre in 2008 | |
| Born | May 1, 1957 Morrow, Ohio, U.S. |
| Education | Ohio State University (BS, MS) Cornell University (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Chief Science Officer of Cypress Systems, Inc. |
| Criminal status | Released December 21, 2006 |
| Spouse |
Ginger Whitacre (m. 1979) |
| Children | Three |
| Criminal charge | Wire fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, price-fixing |
| Penalty | 9 years in federal prison camp (but served ca. 8+1⁄2 yrs. for good behavior) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nutritional Biochemistry |
| Thesis | PhD Studies of the role of selenium in maintaining the integrity of the exocrine pancreas of the chick (1983) |
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Mark Edward Whitacre (born May 1, 1957) is an American business executive who came to public attention in 1995 when, as president of the Decatur, Illinois-based BioProducts Division at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), he became the highest-level corporate executive in U.S. history to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) whistleblower. For three years (1992–95), Whitacre acted as a cooperating witness for the FBI, which was investigating ADM for price fixing. In the late 1990s, Whitacre was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for embezzling $9.5 million from ADM at the same time he was assisting the federal price-fixing investigation.
ADM investigated Whitacre's activities and, upon discovering suspicious activity, requested the FBI investigate Whitacre for embezzlement. As a result of $9.5 million in various frauds, Whitacre lost his whistleblower's immunity, and consequently spent eight and a half years in federal prison. He was released in December 2006. Whitacre is currently the chief science officer and President of Operations at Cypress Systems, a California biotechnology firm.