Coca-Cola three appear in court

The three appeared in court a day after being charged

Three people have appeared in court in the US charged with stealing secrets from soft drinks giant Coca-Cola and trying to sell them to rival PepsiCo.

Administration worker Joya Williams, who is alleged to have stuffed a new Coca-Cola product and documents into her personal bag, was released on bail.

Ibrahim Dimson and Edmund Duhaney were detained by the court in Atlanta pending a further hearing next week.

An order preventing the defendants from revealing any secrets was also made.

PepsiCo said it co-operated with the FBI and Coca-Cola after being contacted by someone offering to sell information.

Coca-Cola said the secret formula of its main drink - sold in the distinctive red and white cans - had not been compromised but would be reviewing its security procedures.

The company said on Thursday it had sacked 41-year-old Joya Williams.

The three appeared in court a day after they were charged with wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling trade secrets from the Coca-Cola company.

Ms Williams was freed on a $23,000 bond by the court, while Mr Dimson, 30, and Mr Duhaney, 43, were detained pending another hearing for all three next Tuesday.

Judge Joel Feldman also signed a restraining order preventing the defendants from discussing Coca-Cola's secrets with anyone except their lawyers.

'Valuable secrets'

According to investigators a letter was sent to PepsiCo in May from someone calling themselves "Dirk" and claiming to be a high-level employee at Coca-Cola with information to trade.

An undercover FBI agent claims to have met with Mr Dimson, who was said to be posing as "Dirk", at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta in June.

During that meeting, Mr Dimson is alleged to have handed over an envelope containing documents and a glass bottle containing a liquid sample.

Coca-Cola's brand and logo has become part of US culture

The undercover officer claims to have paid "Dirk" $30,000 (£16,000) and promised to pay another $45,000 at a later date.

On 27 June, another agent offered to buy the remaining trade secrets for $1.5m, and it is alleged that two of the suspects opened a bank account in order to receive the funds. The three suspects were arrested on 27 June.

Investigators say they have footage showing Ms Williams going through files and "holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of a new Coca-Cola product sample, before placing it into her personal bag".

Dave DeCecco, a PepsiCo spokesman, said that the company was happy to have helped out its rival.

"Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal," he said.