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Priceless Documents (3/27/01)
FULL STORY:
A man using the code name "Cagliostro" was arrested last week by the F.B.I.
for trying to sell confidential MasterCard documents to VISA. The New York
catering company employee tried to sell VISA documents regarding a major
alliance between Disney and MasterCard. The employee, who worked as a waiter in
MasterCard's corporate dining room, reportedly attempted to sell the sensitive
documents for $100,000. The temporary employee, who was hired by the catering
firm Flik International, also offered to sell VISA other confidential
MasterCard documents. VISA reported the theft to the F.B.I. which in turn used
an undercover agent posing as a VISA executive to negotiate the purchase of the
stolen materials. The man, Fausto Estrada, was charged with crimes under the
1996 Economic Espionage Act. According to the New York Times, Estrada included
his own return address on all but one of his letters to VISA, as well as to the
F.B.I. agent who posed as a VISA executive. In negotiating with the undercover
agent, he also used a cellular phone belonging to a woman identified as his
girlfriend. Court documents also showed that in a telephone conversation with
the F.B.I. agent, Mr. Estrada also offered budget and profit-margin information
that he called "very unique" and insisted that any payments be made in cash
"because I do not pay taxes."
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