The feds arrested three people — including one employee of Coca-Cola — and charged them with stealing trade secrets in an attempted plot to sell classified Coca-Cola information to Pepsi for $1.5 million. Alas, the famed secret formula for Coke wasn’t involved; the data involved some tricked-up new product under development.
The plot began with a letter sent to Pepsi’s headquarters signed by “Dirk,” who posed as a Coke exec and offered to turn over confidential do ents and samples. Pepsi turned over the letter to Coke, who then contacted the FBI. The feds set up a sting, and the scheme, well, quickly fizzled.
Here’s a detailed press release from the U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, as well as stories from the Atlanta Journal-Cons ution and the Washington Post.