Random Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True (19 items)

(#15) Lysine Price-Fixing

In the mid '90s, multiple conglomerates, including American industrial giant Archer Daniels Midland, conspired to fix prices of the animal feed additive lysine. The plot was uncovered by a whistle-blower, inciting the FBI to prosecute the companies as an international cartel. ADM was fined $100 million for this and another conspiracy to fix the price of the chemical citric acid. The entire affair was dramatized in the 2011 Matt Damon film The Informant!
(#13) The Iran-Contra Scandal

As part of a complicated scheme involving the highest levels of government, the US sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of seven hostages being held in Lebanon, and used the money to support Nicaraguan militants.

While the plan theoretically had good intentions, such as eliminating communism and freeing captives, it violated the US embargo against Iran, as well as a number of federal laws. It collapsed into a flurry of hearings and jail sentences, many of which were later pardoned by President George Bush.
(#12) Watergate
The Watergate Hotel break in was a massive conspiracy at multiple levels of the Nixon administration to discredit the President’s opponents, steal secret documents, wiretap conversations and ensure Nixon’s reelection. Once it came to light, the revelation of the President of the United States either knowing about or actively being involved in a massive cover-up led to the beginning of articles of impeachment, arrests of major political figures, and soon thereafter, Nixon’s resignation.
(#16) Steroids in Baseball

Dozens of baseball players and their clinicians were involved in a conspiracy to take steroids, obtain fraudulent prescriptions, and hide the effects of the drugs they were taking. Major League Baseball, at least to some extent, knew what was going on and looked the other way, as long as the players involved kept making money for the game and the league.

It finally fell apart when a 20 month Congressional investigation led to a long list of players who had taken illegal substances. In 2003, under enormous fan and government pressure, baseball instituted a new drug testing policy.
(#5) Prohibition Alcohol Poisioning

The US Department of the Treasury, in its efforts to enforce the Volstead Act, added deadly chemicals to the industrial alcohol that was being used by bootleggers as a substitute for grain alcohol. They hoped to make a few scofflaws sick and to discourage others from drinking cheap alcohol.

It's been estimated that by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, at least 10,000 people had been killed by the federal poisoning program.
(#17) GlaxoSmithKline Shenanigans
Executives at the pharmaceutical giant conspired to, among other things, illegally promote certain products to treat diseases off label, hide incriminating safety data that questioned the efficacy of these drugs, fix prices, and pay kickbacks to doctors in exchange for promoting their drugs. A massive criminal investigation followed, and GSK was fined $3 billion, the largest fine ever levied against any pharma company by any government.