Coke Secrets for Sale
By Valerie S. Johnson
It had all the elements of a Hollywood blockbuster: rival corporate giants, a conspiracy, stolen secret documents, and an FBI sting operation complete with wiretapped phone calls and hidden surveillance cameras.
A federal jury in Atlanta found former Coca Cola secretary Joya Williams guilty of conspiring to sell confidential marketing plans for a new product to Pepsi, the soda maker's long-standing competitor. Ms. Williams is awaiting sentencing and could face a maximum of ten years in prison. Two co-conspirators, Edmund Duhaney and Ibrahim Dimson, pleaded guilty and are also awaiting sentencing.
The plot was discovered when a senior vice president at Pepsi received a letter with an offer to sell the trade secrets. In perhaps a rare example of cooperation between arch rivals, Pepsi passed the letter to Coke, and the FBI began an undercover investigation.
What prompted this ill-conceived ploy? The prosecution contented that the $1.5 million price tag on the trade secrets was attractive to Ms. Williams, who was deeply in debt. One of the co-conspirators testified that Ms. Williams was angry at her employer for mistreating her.
What do you think can be a bigger motivator – greed or revenge?
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02-04-2007, 07:58 PM
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