The affected workers were offered 18 months of paid identity-protection services and urged to take other defensive steps, including freezing their credit. His intent, says the Justice department, was to sell an improved version of the software back to the government.Īccording to an internal privacy notice at DHS, the stolen data included "names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, positions, grades, and duty stations" on 246,167 employees. The indictment also charges Venkata with destruction of records.Įdwards, who resigned from his post at DHS in 2013, had his associates copy proprietary software as well as information about internal investigations and personal identifying information on DHS and Postal Service employees. Edwards, 59, of Sandy Spring, Maryland, and Murali Yamazula Venkata, 54, of Aldie, Virginia, with conspiracy to commit theft of government property and to defraud the United States, theft of government property, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. government as part of a scheme to defraud the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a former subordinate for their alleged theft of proprietary software and confidential databases from the U.S. Department of Justice press release:Ī federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a 16-count indictment against a former Acting Inspector General for the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), came down as most of the country was distracted by the prospect of viral doom. Edwards, a former acting inspector general for the U.S. In the midst of a political climate featuring grandiose promises intended to entice voters, this scandal is a fresh reminder that ever-more expansive and expensive government programs represent irresistible temptations for sticky-fingered crooks. So, it's more than a little worrying when one of the watchdogs is charged with criminal abuse of his position of trust in an effort to enrich himself. It's an important position given the money and power that flows through the organs of the state and the resulting opportunities for shenanigans, great and small. Inspectors general are the watchdogs of government, tasked with keeping government officials and their agencies honest and with detecting fraud and abuse.
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