McLaren suspends key technical employee in ferrari probe

If McL's managing director knew about the documents, Dennis probably knew. Coughlin reports to Dennis. Dennis reports to Neale (MD). Dennis claims he was out of the loop and no other MCL employee knew. I don't believe it. Dennis is a liar and you can't believe ANYTHING he says.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

Note the term "fully analyzed"...they looked at it of course but weren't done analyzing the data.

 

Is this a joke? It says Dennis knew and he had another employee take the documents to be copied.
I believe the "porn" crack though.

 

Right now it looks like that he put the documents aside for possible future use. We don't know that he offered himself to Honda as an owner of Ferrari's "How to build and operate F1 car for Dummies" book.

I am not saying he is clear from wrongdoing - but it will take of an full investigation effort to find and name all the defendants and charges.

 

Yoko Ono will forever be the one who broke MUSIC !!!

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60550

Stepney, Coughlan approached Honda

By Jonathan Noble Friday, July 6th 2007, 16:31 GMT


Honda Racing have become embroiled in the espionage scandal surrounding Nigel Stepney after admitting on Friday that they were approached by the former Ferrari engineer and McLaren's Mike Coughlan for jobs earlier this year.

Just minutes after McLaren boss Ron Dennis said that he had been informed of fresh developments in the affair by an unidentified 'third party', Honda issued a statement confirmed speculation that they too were involved in the spy scandal.

"Given the speculation surrounding the legal investigations at Ferrari and McLaren, the Honda Racing F1 Team would like to clarify that earlier this year Nigel Stepney, formerly of Scuderia Ferrari, requested a meeting with Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer of the Honda Racing F1 Team," said the team in a statement.

"Nigel Stepney subsequently met in June of this year with Nick Fry and brought with him Mike Coughlan of McLaren, with a view to investigating job opportunities within the Honda Racing F1 Team.

"Honda would like to stress that at no point during this meeting was any confidential information offered or received. Nick Fry informed Jean Todt and Ron Dennis of the meeting and has offered to provide any information required by Ferrari and McLaren."

Speculation that more teams than McLaren and Ferrari were involved in the Stepney affair had been mounting over the day at Silverstone - with insiders suggesting that Honda would also be dragged into the matter.

Although team boss Nick Fry refused several times during the course of the day to comment on the situation, in the end the statement was published in a bid to quell the mounting rumours about the level of his and Honda's involvement in the case.

The confirmation of Honda's situation, and the nature of Fry's meeting with the two espionage suspects, makes it increasingly likely that the controversy is more about Stepney and Coughlan looking at future job prospects than out-and-out espionage.

Dennis reiterated his belief that McLaren would be cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter, after confirming that fresh clarity had been brought to his view of the situation by a conversation between himself, Todt and Fry earlier in the day.

"Three team principals discussed this situation this morning," he said. "Again it creates in some ways more clarity.

"I want to be very correct in this process. The first thing that I did when I first learnt of this problem was to phone Jean Todt. The second was to phone Max Mosley and from the beginning we have been cooperative.

"We immediately brought independent people into the company to analyse and go through a process. I feel that as much as the reputation of McLaren has been challenged and in some instances, all instances, unfairly challenged, the important thing is to set an example and to behave in a very correct way.

"I can give a full and detailed understanding to everybody about what has happened over the last few months, but it is just inappropriate. The way of the world is that all the truth comes out.

"Probably the thing that I have learned more than anything over the last few days is how fast people are prepared to jump into severe criticism of McLaren when it has had, certainly in the last 20 odd years, an impeccable reputation in every aspect of how it conducts its racing team and how it conducts its business affairs."

And pre-empting Honda's confirmation about Coughlan and Stepney's approach, he said: "Over the next 48 hours there will definitely be more information available to people and some of that will give a better insight into motives and what lies behind some people's actions. But it is not for me to criticise. We will let things unfold.

"This is all being conducted under civil law and therefore there are no police involved. But this does not mean there it does not follow a proper procedure. Too many people are quick to jump and criticise, and effectively condemn, but as in most things in life the truth will come out. I doubt there will be many apologies afterwards but the truth will come out."

 

Agree with Tifosi12, NO, these guys are in for a hard legal ride.

These documents were comprised of information that was compiled during Stepney's employ at Scuderia Ferrari.

I am dead positive, that Ferrari has a non-disclosure clause in their employment contracts with probably all employees down to dishwashers in the cafeterias and the people that cut the grass.

Coughlan's culpability, would probably also be judged according to his understanding of these basic requirements of technical employment, as I am sure McLaren has the same sort of clause in their contracts.

I would think the courts, would take a very dim view of blatant acts such as these and dispense a liberal slathering of "tough love"

 

REWORD
I would think the courts, would take a very dim view of blatant acts such as these and dispense a conservative slathering of "tough love"

I don't want anybody here to mistake me for a liberal for God's sake !!!

 

Agree, but I think it will be a civil case for violation of employement contract.

 

I disagree. This will be a criminal case. It actually already is with Stepney brought in for questioning by the Italian police and his house searched a second time.

This is serious stuff.

 

They hauled away his race suit from Monaco for testing...

 

May be the "white powder" sabotage is the Criminal charge ?

 

It is supposedly detergent.

 

But, if that is true, there is really nothing to be gained, because by the time Ferrari gets done raining down financial ruination on Stepney and Coughlan in civil suit, they will be Lire negative after figuring in the legal fees expended.

 

Industrial espionage is a criminal offense.

 

+1 !!!

Agreed !!!

 

Just a stupid question, would it really prove anything if they found detergent on his clothes?

 

that he washed his clothes daily, and that he's a 'clean' man

 

You right. Similar sounding case in US. I don't know if similar law is on EU books.


Eastman Kodak Trade Secrets
Harold C. Worden was a 30-year employee of the Eastman Kodak Corporation who established his own consulting firm upon retiring from Kodak. Worden's firm was allegedly able to broker the consulting services of more than 60 other Kodak retirees, some of whom consulted for competitors. Worden's consulting contacts are believed to have included foreign firms.

During his last five years at Kodak, Worden was project manager for what was known as the 401 machine. This is a new machine designed to inexpensively produce the clear plastic base used in consumer film. The base is lined with emulsions using a secret formula that determines the quality of the photographs. When Worden retired, he took with him thousands of documents marked "confidential" about the development the 401 machine, and he recruited his successor to continue providing confidential information.5

A Kodak spokesman said the numerous drawings, plans, manuals and other documents removed by Worden were worth millions of dollars to the company, even though Worden by the time of his arrest had received only $26,700 for selling the information. The market share at risk as a result of Worden's activities could have been in the billions of dollars.

As part of a plea arrangement, Worden pled guilty in August 1997 to one felony count of interstate transportation of stolen property. Worden was sentenced in November 1997 to one year imprisonment, three months of home confinement with monitoring bracelet, three years of supervised probation, and a fine of $30,000. Kodak has a civil suit pending against Worden for financial restitution.

A week after Worden was sentenced, Kodak accused another retired employee of providing trade secrets to what was then 3M's photographic film division in Ferrania, Italy.6



This guy got sentenced for interstate transportation of stolen property for one year imprisonment.
Considered documents weren't used - Stepney may get a lesser sentence.

 

I was thinking the samething myself.