HP Ex-Chairman Faces Criminal Charges

October 5, 2006: A Californian prosecutor has filed felony charges against Hewlett-Packard’s ousted chairman Patricia Dunn after investigations in to boardroom leaks.

After weeks of speculation, the charges filed against the company chairman and four others connected with the incident include wrongful use of computer data, identity theft and conspiracy as well as fraudulent wire connections.

The controversial investigation emerged last month after HP admitted it had operatives involved in ‘pretexting.’ The operatives are said to have posed as employees, journalists and even board members to obtain private telephone records.

The California attorney general’s office says personal records of reporters were accessed by an HP hired investigator in an attempt to pinpoint the source of media linked boardroom information.

Prosecutor Bill Lockyer said “people inside and outside HP violated privacy rights and broke state law.” In his written statement he also labelled the HP investigation a “misguided effort.”

Others to be indicted include information broker Joseph DePante and his employee Bryan Wagner, private investigator Ronald Delia and form HP senior attorney Kevin Hunsaker.

Patricia Dunn claims she had received assurances that HP’s internal investigative methods were legal and a widely accepted practice. After being forced to resign last month, she claimed she was not responsible for the incident.

Documents related to the incident are said to prove Dunn played an intimate role in the HP investigation. The documents recently made public show Dunn provided phone numbers of a number of reporters without their permission.

Board member George Keystone and friend Tom Perkins resigned in protest over the incident last month.

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