Federal investigators have granted immunity to at least two former Coca-Cola employees in exchange for testimony about how company officials rigged marketing tests at Burger King four years ago.
Prosecutors are considering criminal charges in the case, according to news reports.
Ed Zambie and Beth Strum are reported to be receiving immunity.
In October, Coca-Cola agreed to pay $540,000 to former manager Matthew Whitley, who filed a $44 million lawsuit alleging that the company tampered with the promotion that led to the criminal investigation of fraud allegations. He filed the lawsuit shortly after he was fired in March in what Coca-Cola termed a “restructuring.”
The allegations first appeared in a lawsuit filed May 19 by Whitley, alleging that Coca-Cola employees had rigged a test promotion of Frozen Coke at Burger King restaurants in 2000. After a three-week trial went poorly, members of Coca-Cola’s fountain division offered a man $10,000 to bring children into Burger King to order value meals featuring Frozen Coke. In June, Coca-Cola admitted to the tampering charges.
In August, Coca-Cola, Atlanta, said it would pay up to $21.1 million to Miami-based Burger King to help ease the dispute over the tampering. It also replaced the head of its North American soda-fountain business, Tom Moore, who Whitley accused of knowing about the tampering.
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