ATLANTA Coca-Cola supplier is brought into probe

Officials in Georgia are investigating fraud allegations against Coke.
ATLANTA (Dow Jones/AP) -- Lancer Corp., a major equipment supplier to Coca-Cola Co., said federal prosecutors in Atlanta have sought information from the company in connection with a criminal investigation involving the beverage giant.
Lancer, based in San Antonio, Texas, said in a prepared statement that it intends to cooperate with federal investigators. The U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Georgia is investigating fraud allegations raised by a former Coke employee who is suing the company in state and federal court for wrongful termination.
Lancer's statement is another indication where prosecutors are headed in their investigation. Last week, Burger King Corp., one of Coke's biggest customers, said it was complying with a grand jury subpoena for information related to a sales test for Frozen Coke in 2000.
Test results
Coke, based in Atlanta, has acknowledged that some of its employees "improperly influenced" those test results to win more business from the Miami fast-food chain.
In his lawsuits filed in May, Matthew Whitley, a former finance manager in Coke's fountain unit, alleged that Lancer and Coke engaged in sham transactions and improper accounting in an attempt to boost sales of a new, high-tech fountain dispenser called iFountain and to cover up its poor performance.
Sales of the new dispenser have fallen short of Coke's expectations.
In response to the suits, Lancer's audit committee is conducting an internal investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission requested documents from Lancer. The SEC has made a similar request to Coke.
Lancer said it would delay filing its most recent quarterly financial statements until its audit committee inquiry is completed.
Spokesmen for Lancer and the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta both declined to comment.
What Coke has said
Coke has said it is cooperating with federal investigators. Coke's own internal investigation into the allegations resulted in the company taking a $9 million write-down before taxes related to certain fountain equipment.
But the company has denied Whitley's allegations of fraud and it has asked the courts to dismiss his suits.