Three people were charged with the illegal theft and sale of trade secrets from The Coca-Cola Company to its main rival, PepsiCo Inc.
Ibrahim Dimson of Bronx, New York; Edmund Duhaney of Decatur, Georgia; and Joya Williams of Norcross, Georgia, have been arrested and charged in a criminal complaint for wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling trade secrets from Coca-Cola, according to a press release issued from the office of Attorney General David E. Nahmias of the Northern District of Georgia.
On May 1, the Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo received a letter in an official business envelope from Coca-Cola. The letter, postmarked from Bronx, New York, was sent from an individual named "Dirk," who claimed to be a top-level employee from Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information." PepsiCo immediately notified Coca-Cola and later contacted the FBI.
After nearly two months of investigation, the FBI made three arrests on July 5, when an undercover agent offered to buy the remaining trade secrets for $1.5 million from "Dirk." One of the three arrested, Joya Williams, was an administrative assistant employed by Coca-Cola in Atlanta who had access to highly confidential corporate information.
Company surveillance videos showed Williams at her desk searching through multiple files, looking for documents and stuffing them into bags. She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label—a new Coca-Cola product sample—and placing it into her bag.
Coca-Cola later verified the sample as genuine and in fact a product under development. When asked for the name of the new product and its possible launch, company spokeswoman Crystal Walker replied, "This is corporation secret. I can't provide any information."
"Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company," wrote Neville Isdell, CEO of Coca-Cola, in a memo to company employees. "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."
Williams was released on a $25,000 bond late last week after a court hearing. Outside the courthouse, Williams' parents and attorney denied any wrongdoing. They claimed that "she was merely taking some work home," and she put a bottle of the new product sample in her purse because "she thought she might be thirsty."
Walker said the original recipe is still safely locked in an underground safe inside a SunTrust Bank location. She refused to comment on whether the high media exposure will help increase the sale of its soft drinks.
On Friday, Coca-Cola's shares fell 15 cents to $43.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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