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McDonald's alliance with Simon ends after FBI uncovers $13 mil prize theft By Kate MacArthur
Simon Marketing staffers went into McDonald's Corp.'s headquarters last Tuesday morning to pitch plans for a 2002 McPromotion, just one more meeting in a 25-year relationship. They hadn't a clue that 100 FBI agents were fanning out nationally that day to arrest eight suspects in a swindle allegedly masterminded by one Simon employee.
When the FBI had picked up its final suspect, the Simon staffers-not implicated in a six-year scam to steal $13 million in McDonald's game prizes-were summarily escorted out of the Oak Brook, Ill., offices. The game was over: McDonald's, which had been working quietly with the FBI, immediately fired Simon, pulling a $500 million-a-- year account and putting Simon's future in jeopardy.
"The FBI kept a lid on this until McDonald's got [its new] game together," said one fast-food executive, referring to the company's conciliatory "Instant Giveaway Game" that begins Aug. 3o and was being planned behind the scenes of the investigation. "It's amazing to me that they had that kind of clout."
Such is the power of the world's largest fast-feeder. It appeared that the FBI controlled the sting breaking the crime ring that stole winning game cards for McDonald's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and Monopoly games. The FBI said the swindle was masterminded by an employee of McDonald's long-time promo shop, Simon Worldwide's Simon Marketing in Los Angeles.
But it was the Golden Arches that held the final answer as to when the takedown would happen. The crescendo to "Operation Final Answer" wasn't decided until...