Ousted HP chairwoman Dunn to be indicted

Stan Beer
Thursday, 05 October 2006 06:07

IT Industry - Strategy

Former Hewlett-Packard chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, and four other individuals, face serious felony charges over a spying scandal, in which illegal methods were allegedly used to obtain information on members of the HP Board and others.

• Announcements

Along with Dunn, former HP senior attorney, Kevin Hunsaker, and three others, including private investigator Ronald DeLia, information broker Joseph DePante, and Bryan Wagner, who worked for DePante, will be charged, according to a New York Times report. Charges are expected to be laid today by the California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Dunn was forced to resign two weeks ago after revelations that an investigation into boardroom leaks to the media that she initiated in 2005 may have been conducted illegally by the team of external investigators hired by HP.

In 2005, Dunn, 53, was ranked 17 on the Forbes list of the top 100 most powerful women in the US.

According to the NYT, Dunn engaged DeLia, who in turn brought in DePante and his firm Action Research Group, to get reports to get information on other HP Board members.

The investigators reportedly used illegal methods in attempts to obtain phone records of conversations between reporters and board members, including impersonating the investigation targets.

Board members George Keystone, a key investigation target who was accused of being a source of leaks, and Tom Perkins a prominent venture capitalist and friend of Keystone resigned in protest over the investigation process.

HP CEO Hurd, who was appointed chairman after Dunn's departure, has escaped charges. In a media conference two weeks ago, Hurd admitted that he knew of the inquiry into boardroom leaks but claimed that he had not read the subsequent report detailing the investigation and its methods. He will testified to a Congressional investigation committee last week.