California’s attorney general is expected to file felony criminal indictments today against five people connected to the Hewlett-Packard leak investigation, including Littleton private investigator Bryan Wagner, according to news reports.
Along with Wagner, others who will also be charged include ousted HP chairmwoman Patricia Dunn, former HP lawyer Kevin Hunsaker, Boston private detective Ronald Delia and Joseph Depante, owner of a Melbourne, Fla., data broker, according to reports by The New York Times and Businessweek.
The Times reported that they will face four charges: using of false or fraudulent pretenses to obtain confidential information from a public utility, unauthorized access to computer data, identity theft, and conspiracy to commit each of those crimes.
A spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment today.
Dunn ordered an investigation last year to determine the source of company information that was leaked to reporters. Investigators hired by HP allegedly used pretexting – posing as someone else to obtain personal information – to gain access to phone records of HP’s directors and reporters.
Wagner, the Littleton private investigator, worked for Depante’s Action Research Group data broker company for five years.
“If in fact Action did use Bryan, I would hope that California would use him as a pawn to get to the people responsible, not just the little peon that does the work,” said James Rapp, Wagner’s uncle, today in an interview with The Post.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
