Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Congress calls on pretexters to testify

The private investigators, two of whom are from Florida, are believed to have used subterfuge to get phone records of HP directors.

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published September 28, 2006

Cassandra Selvage, a licensed private investigator in Spring Hill, said she has no idea why she was subpoenaed to appear before a congressional hearing today, but the 36-year-old woman was excited by the prospect.

"They're paying for the flight and I've never been to Washington before," said Selvage, owner of Eye in the Sky Investigations in Pasco County. "I'm taking my camera. It will be like a vacation."

Members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee might have other plans. Selvage is one of five private investigators, two of whom are from Florida, who are being called to testify in the committee's investigation into the Hewlett-Packard spying case.

According to the committee, the five are believed to have been hired by outside investigators to use subterfuge to get private phone records of HP directors and employees as well as journalists while the technology company tried to find the source of corporate leaks.

Also called to appear before the House committee were Valerie Preston, owner of InSearchOf Inc. in Cooper City near Fort Lauderdale. Preston, 58, had no comment on the subpoena when reached on Wednesday. The other investigators subpoenaed are Bryan Wagner, Littleton, Colo., Charles Kelly, Villa Rica, Ga., and Darren Brost, Austin, Texas.

The five private detectives will join an already packed agenda for today's meeting. Nine other witnesses are scheduled to appear, including Patricia C. Dunn, who resigned last week as HP's chairwoman over the bungled investigation, and HP's outside counsel. Also called is Joseph DePante, owner of Action Research Group in Melbourne, which has been called one of the biggest information brokers in the country with well over $1-million in annual revenues.

DePante is believed to have hired subcontractors, including some of the five investigators subpoenaed this week, who assumed false identities to get phone records for HP. The practice of using deception to gain access to such private information is known as pretexting.

DePante's company's Web site boasts that it has "no databases" and is proficient at "telephone research," both code words, experts say, for pretexting. Pretexting to obtain phone records became illegal in Florida in July, and its use in the HP case has raised the possibility of a nationwide prohibition against the practice.

Selvage, meanwhile, denies working for DePante or any involvement with the HP case. "I haven't had time to sit down with my records to see if I've done anything like that or not," Selvage said.

Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@ sptimes.com or 727 892-2996.

[Last modified September 28, 2006, 15:30:12]