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F1 men found guilty of industrial espionage

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705 views April 24, 2007

F1 men found guilty of industrial espionage

F1's long running Toyota espionage saga has ended with the two former Ferrari employees handed jail sentences.

Mauro Iacconi and Angelo Santini have been found guilty in a Modena court of stealing design information from Ferrari before switching to Toyota in 2002, according to Italian newspapers on Tuesday.

Their combined 25-month sentences were suspended, but both men will reportedly appeal.

The story first came to attention in 2003, when Toyota was accused of producing a car that was visibly very similar to the ultra-successful 2002 Ferrari single seater.

The men were fired, and Toyota officials including boss Ove Andersson, designer Gustav Brunner and aerodynamics chief Rene Hilhorst were all also implicated. All five no longer work for Toyota.

Toyota consistently denied that the stolen information had been used for the 'TF103' car (pictured).