A US judge last night released on bail a woman arrested with two men on charges of selling secrets from Coca-Cola to soft drink arch-rival PepsiCo.
Suspect Joya Williams, an executive assistant at The Coca-Cola Company's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, paid $5,000 in cash and posted a $20,000 bond to gain her freedom.
Williams and Edmund Duhaney, also of Georgia, and Ibrahim Dimson, of New York, were charged on Wednesday by the US Justice Department of wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling trade secrets from The Coca-Cola Company.
Duhaney and Dimson were continuing to be held as requested by the government at least until Tuesday, when all three suspects are scheduled to appear before Judge Joel Feldman, the court spokesman said. Duhaney and Dimson are seeking court-appointed attorneys, he said.
An offer of 'confidential' information to PepsiCo from a purported Coca-Cola employee sparked an FBI investigation with an undercover agent offering $1.5m in cash.
The investigation was launched after PepsiCo turned over to its cola rival a letter in May from a person identifying himself as 'Dirk,' who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered 'very detailed and confidential information,' a Justice Department statement said.
Coca-Cola contacted the FBI, which launched the probe leading to the arrests.
