HP Chair to Step Down, but Threat of Criminal Charges Remains
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California's attorney general warned for the first time Tuesday that company insiders are likely to face criminal charges
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(InfoWorld) - A criminal case against some of the people implicated in theÂ Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandalÂ may wrap up Thursday in a courtroom in San Jose, California. A hearing is scheduled in Santa Clara County Superior Court in the cases against former HP legal counsel Kevin Hunsaker, private investigator Ronald DeLia, and research consultant Matthew DePante. At a hearing in March, a state judge said charges against the three defendants would be dismissed if they performed 96 hours of community service and paid restitution to the victims. At that same hearing, state charges against former HP chairman Patricia DunnÂ were dismissedÂ altogether. Dunn was chair of HP in 2006 when the board authorized an investigation to find out which directors had been leaking details of confidential board deliberations to news reporters. The private investigative firms hired by HP engaged in a practice known as pretexting, in which they pretended to be someone else to obtain phone records of other individuals. HP directors, employees, and several reporters had their private phone records revealed under those false pretenses. The scandalÂ resulted in the departureÂ of three directors, including Dunn, from the HP board. Dunn and the three men had beenÂ chargedÂ with fraudulent wire communications, wrongful use of computer data, identity theft, and conspiracy, in a case brought by the Attorney General of California in October 2006. The hearing Thursday had originally been scheduled for sometime in September, but may have been moved up because the defendants met the judge's requirements for dismissal, said Carl Schulhof, a spokesman for the Superior Court. State charges were dropped against a fifth defendant in the case, Bryan Wagner, after he pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. He was a contractor who engaged in pretexting to gain access to phone records. Wagner's sentencing on the federal charges was postponed to October, his attorney Stephen Naratil, said Tuesday.
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Dunny flushed Patricia Dunn has not survived the HP spy scandal â a turn of events that everyone except HP saw as inevitable long ago. Dunn today resigned from HP's board, elevating CEO Mark Hurd to the Chairman role.â¦
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HPÂs chairwoman will step aside in January, the C.E.O. will succeed her and the longest-serving director resigned.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard Co.'s board of directors adjourned an emergency phone conference yesterday without announcing a decision on the fate of embattled chairwoman Patricia Dunn, who is facing calls to resign or be fired for ordering an investigation that may have used illegal means to spy on colleagues and journalists.
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(InfoWorld) - A spokesman from the California attorney general's office Friday said that Attorney General Bill Lockyer at this point does not have any evidence to charge Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Hurd with a criminal offense in the ongoing investigation intoÂ HP's probe of journalists and board members. However, Thomas Dressler, a Lockyer spokesman, said that Lockyer and his office are still in the middle of an investigation, so it does not mean Hurd is in the clear yet. "The key words are 'at this point,'" he said Friday. "We're not ruling anyone out in terms of criminal culpability. We have much more work to do, many more documents to review, more people to interview." The probe could have serious consequences for HP as evidence continues to surface that investigators not only used pretexting -- or obtaining phone records under false pretenses -- but also physical surveillance and e-mail tracking software that was placed on at least one target's computer without her knowledge to gather information. HP has acknowledged that it undertook an investigation of employees, board members and journalists, in an attempt to find out who on the HP board was leaking information. A report in The Washington Post Thursday cited e-mail that indicated Hurd knew about details of the investigation, and HP's share price began falling after reports that suggested he approved elaborate spying tactics to obtain reporter information. Patricia Dunn, HP's chairman, already has agreed toÂ step aside as chairman in January in the wake of the scandal, and two others also have resigned from the board. Hurd will take over as chairman of the board when Dunn leaves, though she will remain on the board. Hurd is expected to speak publicly for the first time about the scandal in a press conference at 4:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. According to HP spokeswoman Emma Wischhusen, Hurd will not field reporter questions, but will make only prepared comments. A representative from a law firm representing HP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, also will speak at the press conference. Â
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PATRICIA DUNN was today forced to say that she will step down as chairman of computer maker Hewlett-Packard, which has become embroiled in a scandal over its probes into leaks to the media.
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Former Hewlett-Packard Co.   Chairman Patricia Dunn is due to surrender to  authorities on Thursday afternoon on felony charges for spying  on reporters and company directors, the California attorney  general's office said.
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By JORDAN ROBERTSON  PALO ALTO, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn resigned Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of the company's ill-fated investigation of boardroom media leaks.
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Hewlett-Packard Co.  Chief  Executive Mark Hurd is not expected to face charges when  California's attorney general seeks indictments over a  boardroom leak probe, BusinessWeek reported in its online  edition on Wednesday.
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Hewlett-Packard's chairwoman says to step down if required    LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn said on Friday that she would resign if requested by the company's board.
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Patricia C. Dunn, the former chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard, and four other people will be named in indictments expected to be filed by CaliforniaÂs attorney general today in the spying case at the company, according to lawyers involved in the case.
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Patricia Dunn agreed to resign as Hewlett-Packard Co. chairwoman yesterday as a scandal widened over potentially illegal tactics used by outside investigators she hired to uncover the source of news leaks.
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By Damon Darlin  Moving to quell its boardroom upheaval, Hewlett-Packard said Tuesday that its chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, would step down in January and would be succeeded by Mark Hurd, the chief executive.
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(InfoWorld) - California Attorney General Bill Lockyer says criminal charges are "likely" in the scandal surrounding alleged spying involving the board of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), reports say. Meanwhile, HP board Chairman Patricia Dunn says she will not resign over the scandal and that she was "appalled" that contractors hired to investigate news leaks used potentially illegal methods, news reports say. The Wall Street Journal reported the HP board will hold a special meeting by phone this weekend to discuss the situation. HP is on the defensive after the disclosures this week thatÂ phone records of HP board membersÂ andÂ journalistsÂ were hacked to see who on the board discussed confidential strategy sessions with reporters earlier this year. The company disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday that investigators, in order to identify the leaker, had used "pretexting," a method in which false pretenses are used to gain online access to others' phone records. The investigation determined that director George Keyworth was the source for a Cnet.com story in January about HP's strategy. Keyworth was asked to resign from the board in May but refused. Board member Thomas Perkins, a renowned Silicon Valley venture capitalist, did resign in May in protest over concerns with the HP board's handling of investigations into leaks of confidential information. Dunn, in an interview in the Journal Friday, said that while she ordered the investigation of board news leaks, she did not know the investigators hired to conduct the probe used pretexting. "I was appalled. And I'm going to apologize," to those journalists, she told the Journal. Because she was also subject to investigation, she said she could not have known what methods the investigators used. But while she does not plan to resign, Dunn will take into consideration what the board thinks she should do. "I serve entirely at the pleasure of the board,'' Dunn told the Journal. "If they determine it no longer is in the interest of shareholders [for me to remain on the board] I will do so.'' Charges could be filed under a California law prohibiting gaining unauthorized access to computer data or under another law prohibiting identity theft through unauthorized use of personal information, published reports say. The investigation is ongoing but prosecution is likely because a crime has occurred, Lockyer told the San Jose Mercury News. A bill to specifically outlaw pretexting is on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk awaiting his signature. The governor has until the end of September to sign or veto the bill, spokesman Darrel Ng told IDG News Service. Schwarzenegger hasn't taken a position on the pretexting bill, but only because it is one of hundreds of bills passed during the recently concluded session of the California Legislature, Ng said.
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Patricia C. Dunn resigned and will be replaced by the companyÂs chief executive. Also, two key members of H.P.Âs investigation task force are said to be out.
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A person with knowledge of SundayÂs HP board meeting said there is a strong chance that Patricia C. Dunn will be forced to resign.