Rivals Michelin and Bridgestone Cooperate to Catch Spy

Marwan Arbache, a former Michelin executive, has been found guilty of trying to sell industrial secrets to the company’s main competitor Bridgestone. The court hearing in Clermont-Ferrand reportedly delayed sentencing until 21 June 2010. Arbache faces a maximum 10-year jail sentence and a heavy fine.

The case came to trial after Bridgestone tipped off Clermont-Ferrand based Michelin that the company had received an email offering to sell them confidential tyre manufacturing information for about US$150,000 (£99,000; 115,000 euros). The email, sent in July 2007, signalled the beginning of an exchange that could have, said Michelin representatives, “delivered a serious blow to the company” if he had succeeded. Further details of the allegations involved in the case were uncovered in what the companies reportedly called "Operation Fukuda" – a sting operation which saw officials posing as Japanese clients.

What particularly seems to have grieved Michelin, which already has a well-deserved reputation for stringent security surrounding its industrial secrets, is the fact that their former employee was trying to sell secrets relating to what the AFP news agency called “new tyre manufacturing techniques for heavy transport designed to improve durability.” When you consider the fact that, according to Arbache’s professional profile on social networking sites Linkedin and Ziki, he worked as industrialisation manager responsible for “the curing process of truck tyres for the European and African areas” and “accompanying new products and processes from design to large-scale production” it is a fair guess to say this refers to the sale of information related to the French manufacturer’s latest generation Michelin Durable Technologies truck tyre know how.

Lawyers for Arbache, who was arrested in January 2008, argued that no secret documents came into Bridgestone’s possession and that their client did not intend to follow through with his offer to sell the information. However, even if Arbache manages to avoid a long prison sentence or the punitive fine options available to the court, the case is likely to have scuppered the scientist’s chances of progressing in the tyre business.

According to his online CV, Marwan Arbache was educated as some of France’s leading academic institutions. He attended Louis-Le Grand preparatory school from 1992 to 1994, where he focused on Mathematics and Physics. He completely undergraduate studies in Physics between 1995 to 1997 at Pierre and Marie Curie University where he graduated in the top five per cent of his bachelors class and in the top 10 per cent of his masters’ degree class. Arbache earned a Master of Science degree while attending Ecole Normale Supérieure from 1997 to 1998. Prior to working for Michelin, Arbache began his career as a trainee for the Curie Institute in 1995.

Related News:

• Judge Rules Wyko/Goodyear Case Photos Must Be Viewed in Camera

• Two Fined for Triofill Espionage Case

• Ferrari Blame Email for Tyre Embarrassment