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Two Suspects of Ferrari Espionage Face Charges

Two of the three suspects in a case of industrial espionage against Ferrari are facing criminal charges in an Italian court, while the prosecutor has decided to close the case against the third.

Two of the three suspects in a case of industrial espionage against Ferrari are facing criminal charges in an Italian court, while the prosecutor has decided to close the case against the third.

According to Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport, Magistrate Fausto Casari, head of the investigation for the alleged industrial espionage, submitted his recommendations to the preliminary judge, Alberto Ziroldi, to take to trial former Ferrari employees Mauro Iacconi and Angelo Santini, and to drop the charges against the third suspect, Antonio Tentorio.

A preliminary hearing for the case will be held in about four months.

Iacconi and Santini are reportedly charged with four different offences, all concerning a single criminal act. The charges include unauthorized access to Ferrari's computers, misappropriation of files, disclosure of confidential information, and smuggling of cd-roms. Of these offences, the latter is the most serious, leading to a mandatory punishment of two to eight years imprisonment.

Iacconi, owner of Aerolab, a Modena-based company which manufactures precision components, and owner of a wind tunnel in Sant'Agata Bolognese, responded through his lawyer Andrea Mattioli, who spoke yesterday with TeleModena, a local TV station, stating: "The accusations are very questionable, therefore I'm optimistic about the final outcome because our defense in this case is very substantial."

Santini worked in the aerodynamics department of Ferrari before moving to Toyota, but he left the Japanese company a month ago.

Toyota yesterday said that they will not take part in the upcoming court case, after rumours suggested they might want to sue Santini as well. But Toyota said that "no file used by Mr. Santini had been used in the factory. The entire investigation is based on files found at the technician's home, so we are unrelated to this matter." They also confirmed that aerodynamicist Santini is no longer employed by Toyota Motorsport.

Modena's district attorney yesterday also adjourned by four months a second investigation regarding the smuggling of old race car parts stolen from the Ferrari factory. In the mid nineties, some employees would exit the factory with components and even full F1 engines which were supposed to be destroyed, but instead were found on sale in vintage car markets.

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