Caterpillar Shares Tumble By The Most In 8 Months On Reports Of a Law-enforcement Investigation

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. were down almost 5% Thursday afternoon amid reports that federal officials were searching three of the company's offices, including its Peoria, Ill., headquarters. A report from the Wall Street Journal said search warrants were being executed at Caterpillar facilities in East Peoria and Morton. "Law enforcement is present in various Peoria-area Caterpillar facilities executing a search warrant," a CAT spokeswoman told the WSJ. "Caterpillar is cooperating," she said. Shares of Caterpillar were down nearly 5%, marking its worst one-day decline in about eight months and cutting about 30 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average of which it is a component. The Internal Revenue Service, the Commerce Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., are a part of the investigation. According to WSJ, the probe is believed to be tied to an investigation overseen by the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois.