Long Island Ferrari espionage story!
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- The owners of a Long Island, New York, exotic car dealership that sells Bentleys and Aston Martins were charged with corporate espionage against a rival that sells Ferraris and Maseratis.
Giacomo Ciaccia and Leka Vuksanaj, owners of Universal Autosports LLC in Glen Cove, were arrested along with Creative Director Michael Lussos at their homes today, according to a statement by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin in Manhattan. They are accused of illegally tapping into the e-mails of Ferrari Maserati of Fort Lauderdale-Long Island in Plainview, New York.
The defendants accessed Ferrari Maserati’s e-mail server about 2,500 times between February and September last year from their homes or Universal Autosports, according to the criminal complaint dated April 16 and unsealed today.
“In one instance a dealer associated with Universal Autosports e-mailed a customer who had been negotiating with Ferrari Maserati to buy a rare Ferrari Enzo worth more than $1.3 million,” according to the statement.
“Is there any way I can help or get in the middle,” the dealer wrote, according to the complaint. “Have they found you a car yet?”
Lawyers for Vuksanaj and Lussos couldn’t be immediately reached. The three defendants are scheduled to appear in court today.
“The complaint is just allegations about using the computer,” Ciaccia’s lawyer, Ronald Fischetti of Manhattan, said in a phone interview. “Of the substance, I have no idea yet. I’m sure he’ll be released on bail.”
‘Exotic Automobiles’
Universal Autosports “deals in rare and expensive exotic automobiles” and opened in February 2008 in the space formerly held by Ferrari Maserati, according to the complaint. Ciaccia was Ferrari Maserati’s general manager and Lussos its webmaster until they were terminated in March 2007 after new management took over, according to the complaint. Lussos set up Ferrari Maserati’s e-mail accounts, according to the complaint.
Beginning in September, Ferrari Maserati learned that employees’ e-mails were being forwarded to an unauthorized e- mail address on its server. The e-mails contained information about its customers, inventory and employee compensation, according to the complaint signed by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent John Leo Jr.
Ciaccia, 43, of the Bronx, New York; Vuksanaj, 42, of Mahopac, New York; and Lussos, 40, of Coram, New York, are each charged with one count of “conspiracy to access a computer without authorization and obtain information for commercial gain and to further an intended fraud,” according to the statement.
The maximum penalty if they’re found guilty is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case is U.S. v. Ciaccia, 09-mag-963, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Giacomo Ciaccia and Leka Vuksanaj, owners of Universal Autosports LLC in Glen Cove, were arrested along with Creative Director Michael Lussos at their homes today, according to a statement by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin in Manhattan. They are accused of illegally tapping into the e-mails of Ferrari Maserati of Fort Lauderdale-Long Island in Plainview, New York.
The defendants accessed Ferrari Maserati’s e-mail server about 2,500 times between February and September last year from their homes or Universal Autosports, according to the criminal complaint dated April 16 and unsealed today.
“In one instance a dealer associated with Universal Autosports e-mailed a customer who had been negotiating with Ferrari Maserati to buy a rare Ferrari Enzo worth more than $1.3 million,” according to the statement.
“Is there any way I can help or get in the middle,” the dealer wrote, according to the complaint. “Have they found you a car yet?”
Lawyers for Vuksanaj and Lussos couldn’t be immediately reached. The three defendants are scheduled to appear in court today.
“The complaint is just allegations about using the computer,” Ciaccia’s lawyer, Ronald Fischetti of Manhattan, said in a phone interview. “Of the substance, I have no idea yet. I’m sure he’ll be released on bail.”
‘Exotic Automobiles’
Universal Autosports “deals in rare and expensive exotic automobiles” and opened in February 2008 in the space formerly held by Ferrari Maserati, according to the complaint. Ciaccia was Ferrari Maserati’s general manager and Lussos its webmaster until they were terminated in March 2007 after new management took over, according to the complaint. Lussos set up Ferrari Maserati’s e-mail accounts, according to the complaint.
Beginning in September, Ferrari Maserati learned that employees’ e-mails were being forwarded to an unauthorized e- mail address on its server. The e-mails contained information about its customers, inventory and employee compensation, according to the complaint signed by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent John Leo Jr.
Ciaccia, 43, of the Bronx, New York; Vuksanaj, 42, of Mahopac, New York; and Lussos, 40, of Coram, New York, are each charged with one count of “conspiracy to access a computer without authorization and obtain information for commercial gain and to further an intended fraud,” according to the statement.
The maximum penalty if they’re found guilty is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case is U.S. v. Ciaccia, 09-mag-963, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
People who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones.
