( CNN ) -- Watching the premiere of `` The Informant ! '' -- the Matt Damon movie about a high-level FBI mole at a large multinational company -- was the mole himself , Mark Whitacre . Mark Whitacre , right , at the premiere of 'The Informant ' with Matt Damon . The movie is a dark comic take on the three years Whitacre -- a former divisional president of Archer Daniels Midland , the US-based food additive giant -- spent working undercover to break a global price-fixing conspiracy . Whitacre recognized real episodes in his life on the big screen , such as trying to fix a hidden tape player during a meeting and his delusional belief he would be made CEO of the company as a reward for his undercover work . But what you wo n't see in the movie are the events of August 9 , 1995 , six weeks after an FBI raid blew the case into public attention . It was two days after ADM fired Whitacre and accused him of embezzling millions from the company . His FBI partners for the previous three years would no longer speak with him . On that day , Whitacre sat alone in his car with its engine running inside a closed garage and slowly lost consciousness . He was hoping to end his life as surely as he had ended his career . A gardener found him unconscious . Some scenes just ca n't be played for laughs . `` There was nothing comical in the reality of the story , '' said Whitacre , who eventually spent nearly nine years in prison for his role in the price-fixing scheme and revelations he siphoned off $ 9 million from the company while he was working for the FBI . For Whitacre , 'The Informant ! ' is a study in his own mental illness , as he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after hospitalization for his suicide attempt . His meeting with Damon at the premiere was the first time the pair met . Damon told him he hoped they portrayed his illness in a sensitive way , Whitacre said . `` He did n't want to talk to a 52-year-old Mark Whitacre while preparing for the role , the Mark Whitacre who went to prison , who has been treated for bipolar disorder , who is now COO of a company , '' said Whitacre , who is now an executive for a small food supplement maker . `` He wanted to portray the 35-year-old Mark Whitacre , otherwise it would make it difficult to portray the delusions I had at that time . '' The fix is in . For companies and regulators , the 1997 conviction of ADM was a landmark event , the first antitrust action in the United States since World War II and a case that has spurred price-fixing investigations around the world . `` As a result of this case , the Department of Justice and the FBI started looking around to see if they could find any other cases like this , '' said Dean Paisley , a retired FBI agent who supervised the undercover ADM work . `` This used to be relatively unusual until the ( ADM ) case came to light , '' said John Connor , a Purdue University researcher on cartel activity , who was an expert witness in the government 's case against ADM. `` Back in 1993 you 'd see maybe one or two global ( price-fixing schemes ) being discovered ... in the past three years or so , there are about 50 a year . '' Price-fixing schemes -- where a cartel of manufacturers inflate prices against market demand -- cost consumers untold millions each year . In the ADM case , it was found that in the three-year period of investigation the company 's cartel activity with manufacturers in Japan and Korea inflated prices by at least $ 200 million . The ADM case resulted in a record $ 100 million fine in 1997 -- a figure long since dwarfed . Last month Japanese company Epson agreed to pay $ 26 million for its role in price-fixing LCD panels used in mobile phones in the U.S. Several other companies , including Sharp , LG and Hitachi , have already pleaded guilty in the case and paid fines of more than $ 600 million . Just last week , the Hungarian government fined Visa Europe , MasterCard and seven commercial banks a total of $ 10.4 million for price fixing bank fees ( Visa and MasterCard are appealing that decision ) . Flawed heroes . A sign of cartel activity is usually a sharp and uniform increase in price with a contraction in demand . `` But , in fact , in the last 15 or 20 years ( governments ) have relied almost exclusively on whistle-blowers to make their cases , '' Connor said . And as Whitacre showed , whistle blowers often do n't have noble motives . `` The movie should be taken very , very seriously , '' said Sam Antar , a CPA who turned government witness against his employer in the 1980 's . `` In white-collar cases , the governments have to rely on informants ... in effect , relying on unsavory characters to make their case , '' said Antar , who now advises government agencies on white-collar crime . `` What happened in 'The Informant , ' is he had an agenda to become head honcho of the company , '' Antar said . `` The mistake the FBI agents made in the movie is they fell in love with their witness . It turned out there was a dark side they did n't know about . '' Whitacre said he began stealing millions from the company while working for the FBI , in part , as a financial backstop in case things went wrong . `` I had this sense of false entitlement , like they owe me this ... after all , the company was stealing hundreds of millions . '' The stress of his double-life undoubtedly added to his mental woes , said Paisley , the original FBI supervisor in the case . He points out that undercover FBI agents receive surveillance training and are pulled for psychological evaluation once a year -- Whitacre received none of that . `` There were no provisions for similar checks and balances with Whitacre , '' Paisley said . `` He had no ideas what he was getting into when he agreed to cooperate ... we had no idea it would last three years . '' Although Whitacre has served his time , Paisley and other agents involved in his case are seeking a presidential pardon . `` He really screwed up by stealing , '' Paisley said . `` Be that as it may , how many hundreds of millions would have been stolen if ( ADM ) was n't stopped by Mark Whitacre ? He is a national hero , in my eyes . ''
The ADM price - fixing case was a landmark in global antitrust prosecution . Global price - fixing investigations have increased since the ADM scam . These investigations focus on whistle - blowers who often have dark backgrounds .