Calling 007: FBI Accuses Oregon Man Of Spying On Nike

Oregon resident Reynold Chapin “is accused of espionage” by the FBI for allegedly attempting "to sell trade secrets from Nike,” according to Kyle Iboshi of KGW-NBC in Portland. At a preliminary hearing Thursday in federal court, FBI agent Phil Slinkard testified that Chapin “claimed to have insider information” about Nike. Slinkard said that Chapin wrote an anonymous letter to Saucony President Richie Woodworth and four other CEOs in which he “claimed to have a copy of Nike’s unreleased Fall 2008 catalog.” Chapin said that he got the catalog “while working at a local printing press.” He was “willing to leak the information, including designs and prices, to the highest bidder” (KGW.com, 11/8). In Portland, Hunsberger & Denson note Woodworth sent Chapin’s email to Nike President & CEO Mark Parker, which “led to an FBI sting” and Chapin's arrest.  An FBI affidavit stated that Nike Dir of Security David Simpson “claimed the release of Nike product designs and marketing could cause [Nike] great financial loss” and that the company “made significant efforts to prevent disclosure.” Woodworth said, “People would die to see what’s coming next. To be in front of what a Nike or an adidas or any one of the brands are doing, from a competitive standpoint, is pretty provocative” (Portland OREGONIAN, 11/9).