Milan, Italy  - Former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney is still facing action over the spying scandal that rocked Formula One two years ago, an Italian newspaper reported Tuesday.

Gazzetta dello Sport said that prosecutor Guiseppe Tibis said he is hoping to wrap up by March a probe against Stepney.

Earlier, Italian authorities ended legal action against McLaren's former chief designer Mike Coughlan and three of the British Formula One team's current technicians, after ordering them to pay fines related to a spying case involving rival team Ferrari.

Tibis last Friday asked that charges against the four as well as McLaren team manager Ron Dennis be dropped on a "no contest" basis, daily Gazzetta dello Sport said.

But Coughlan was still fined 180,000 euros (230,000 dollars) as part of a plea-bargaining deal related to accusations of industrial espionage, the newspaper said.

Engineers Paddy Lowe, Jonathan Neale and Rob Taylor were each fined 150,000 euros, the Milan-based newspaper said.

The case erupted when Stepney was accused in 2007 of giving Coughlan a 780-page document containing confidential Ferrari technical data. The Italian team subsequently fired Stepney.

McLaren was fined a record 100 million dollars and was disqualified from the 2007 constructors' championship after the Ferrari data was found in Coughlan's possession. (dpa)