Hi everyone, I am Salmony's sister ^_^
At UCBerkeley's invitation, I am going to translate some of the articles at CNN
website with him in this board from now on.
Hope the action will help you to know what happens in the world~~!! ^_^
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Three charged with stealing Coca-Cola secrets
Prosecutors: Pepsi says suspect tried to sell rival's secrets
Wednesday, July 5, 2006; Posted: 8:49 p.m. EDT (00:49 GMT)
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Three people have been arrested and charged with
stealing confidential information about drink recipes from The Coca-Cola
Co. and trying to sell it to rival PepsiCo Inc., federal prosecutors said
Wednesday.
The suspects include an executive administrative assistant at Atlanta-based
Coke, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and
stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag.
Williams, 41, of Norcross, Georgia; 30-year-old Ibrahim Dimson, of New York;
and 43-year-old Edmund Duhaney of Decatur, Georgia, are charged with wire
fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling Coke trade secrets, federal
prosecutors said.
They are expected to appear before a federal magistrate judge on Thursday in
Atlanta.
Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco said his company did what any responsible
company would do in cooperating with Coke and the investigation.
"Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal,"
DeCecco said. "We're pleased the authorities and the FBI have identified the
people responsible for this."
Coke's chief executive, Neville Isdell, said in a memo to employees Wednesday
that the company is cooperating with federal authorities.
'Breach of trust'
"Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company," Isdell
wrote. "While this breach of trust is difficult for all of us to accept, it
underscores the responsibility we each have to be vigilant in protecting our
trade secrets. Information is the lifeblood of the company."
He said Coke will review its information protection policies, procedures and
practices to make sure it safeguards intellectual property.
According to prosecutors, on May 19, PepsiCo -- based in Purchase, New York
-- provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to PepsiCo in an official
Coca-Cola business envelope.
The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual
identifying himself as "Dirk," who claimed to be employed at a high level
with Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information."
"Dirk" was later identified as Dimson, the FBI says.
Coca-Cola immediately contacted the FBI and an undercover FBI investigation
began.
Prosecutors say Williams was the source of the information Dimson offered
to provide to Pepsi.
They say that "Dirk" provided an FBI undercover agent 14 pages of Coca-Cola
documents marked classified and confidential. The company confirmed that the
documents were valid and highly confidential and were considered trade secrets.
Williams works for a senior Coke manager, though the company would not say
Wednesday which one. The company also would not say if she has been fired.
'Dirk' was the alleged point man
Prosecutors say "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents. "Dirk" later
produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets
of Coca-Cola and highly confidential.
He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential
product sample from a new Coca Cola project, prosecutors said.
Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret
items for $1.5 million from "Dirk." The same day, a bank account was opened
under the names of Duhaney and Dimson, and the address used on the account
was that of Duhaney's Decatur residence, prosecutors said.
Video surveillance showed Williams at her desk at Coke headquarters going
through multiple files looking for documents and stuffing them into bags.
She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which
resembled the description of a new Coca-Cola product sample, before placing
it into her personal bag, prosecutors say. Coca-Cola later verified the
sample was genuine and is in fact a product being developed by the company,
prosecutors added.
Dimson, Williams and Duhaney were arrested in Atlanta on Wednesday, the day
the $1.5 million deal was to take place, prosecutors say.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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