Tuesday, 15 July 2008

HP Exec Most Likely to Serve Ten Years in Prison

Atul Malhotra, former vice president of imaging and printing services, Hewlett-Packard, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of trade secrets for giving HP protected information he obtained while working for IBM.

From late 1997 until April 2006, Malhotra was employed by IBM as a director of sales and business development in output management services. In May 2006, he joined HP as VP of imaging and print services. In July 2006, two months after he took a job as a vice president of imaging and printing services at HP, Malhotra passed the IBM information to two senior HP vice presidents, in e-mails with the subject "For Your Eyes Only - confidential," the Department of Justice said.

Investigators say two months before Malhotra took a job as a vice president in HP's imaging and printing services division, he asked for confidential IBM data about product costs and materials. The email Malhotra sent to the HP executives said that the IBM document would help the HP sales team understand the goals of IBM as HP set pricing for prospective deals.

The Department of Justice said that both IBM and HP have cooperated fully with the investigation. According to the company, it was very clear that Malhotra violated HP policies and that HP followed its policies by investigating, firing and reporting Malhotra to IBM and law enforcement.

Malhotra, 42, faces up to 10 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine on the single count of theft of trade secrets. Malhotra entered his plea to the charge in U.S. District Court in San Jose, where sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 29.