Article Reprint: FBI arrests three accused of stealing Coke secrets

FBI arrests three accused of stealing Coke secrets Originally at http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7484.html Thu, 06 Jul 2006 11:22:00 GMT By Roland Waite ATLANTA, Georgia - Federal prosecutors revealed today that three people have been arrested for trying to sell Coca-Cola secrets to rival Pepsi for a sum of $1.5 million. David Nahmias, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta said that the FBI became involved after Pepsi informed Coke that it had received an approach from a person claiming to be a Coke employee who offered "very detailed and confidential information" about the products being developed at Coke. "Phone records and further investigation allegedly showed the source of the information was Joya Williams, an executive administrative assistant at Coke in Atlanta," Nahmias told reporters. Williams, 41 was then arrested along with Ibrahim Dimson, 30 and Edmund Duhaney, 43. All three people have been charged with wire fraud and also for stealing and selling company secrets from The Coca-Cola Company. "Theft of valuable trade secrets will not be tolerated, not by the Justice Department and not even by competitors," Nahmias said. The three accused are slated to appear in court on Thursday for an initial hearing. Reacting to these horrible incidents, Neville Isdell, Coke's chairman and CEO said in a letter to employees that they were reviewing their security procedures. "Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company. 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, adding that he was thankful to Pepsi for acting fairly in this matter. Meanwhile, prosecutors have enough evidence. A surveillance camera in Williams' office caught her trying to sift through multiple documents and stuffing them into bags. "She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of new Coca Cola product sample before placing it into her personal bag. Coca-Cola later verified the sample was genuine and is in fact a product being developed by the company," Nahmias said. The arrests were made after an FBI operation when Dimson, using the alias "Dirk," met FBI agents at the Atlanta airport and offered them a bag containing documents marked "highly confidential." FBI paid him $30,000 in $100 and $50 bills and agreed to pay the remaining amount later on. The three arrests were made on the following day.