Felony Charges Filed in HP Investigation Scandal

Excerpt from our One-Page Annotated News Summary:

Ex-Leader Among 5 Charged in Hewlett Case (NY Times)

Summary: Yesterday, California’s attorney general office filed felony charges against five people involved in Hewlett Packard’s (HPQ) leak investigation scandal. One of those charged, Patricia C. Dunn, HP’s former chairwoman, was the person who authorized the investigation into board leaks at HP. The other people charged were Kevin T. Hunsaker, a former senior HP lawyer who supervised one stage of the internal investigations, and three outside private investigators. According to California’s attorney general Bill Lockyer, “We plan to aggressively prosecute this case ... However, the investigation into this matter remains active and still incomplete.” Mr. Lockyer added that “There currently is no evidence that Mark Hurd engaged in criminal conduct,”. Also not charges was HP’s former general counsel Ann O. Baskins, who resigned last week. Each of the accused was charged with four separate felony charges, including a conspiracy charge. Ms. Dunn’s attorney responded to the charges, saying “These charges are being brought against the wrong person at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons. They are the culmination of a well-financed and highly orchestrated disinformation campaign.”
Related links: Full article • H-P's He Said, She Said: House Committee Releases Full Dunn and Hurd Testimony • H-P: Of Red Flags and Black Holes • HP: Baskins Resigns as General Counsel; Hurd, Dunn Statements to Congressional Panel Posted • Analysts Rallying Around H-P, Hurd • Previous WSJ summaries on the scandal (dating back to September 6th.) • The Wall Street Journal: Tracking the H-P Controversy • Conference call transcripts: Hewlett-Packard Q3 2006
Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Apple (AAPL), Dell (DELL), Gateway (GTW), IBM (IBM), Sun Microsystems (SUNW) • ETF: iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index (IYW)

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