Friday, June 11, 2004
Justice Department Loses Laptop With DEA Data, Newsweek Says
Source: Bloomberg - 05/30/04
The Justice Department is looking for a missing laptop computer that contains sensitive data about Drug Enforcement Administration investigations and confidential informants, Newsweek reported.
The computer doesn't contain the names of the informants, the magazine said, citing an unidentified law enforcement official. It contains more than 4,000 pages of case-file data, including details about the informants' activities, which could enable drug traffickers to figure out their identities, the magazine said.
An auditor for the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General, which was conducting a routine investigation of DEA payments to informants, reported the computer stolen three weeks ago, Newsweek said. The auditor last week changed his story and said that he had accidentally damaged the computer and had thrown it out to avoid embarrassment, the magazine reported.
Investigators are trying to verify the auditor's account, Newsweek said.
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