Hacker conference PI charged with witness tampering

HOPE and tribulation

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in ID, 25th July 2006 16:19 GMT

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The private investigator who was arrested by the Feds shortly before he was due to give a presentation on privacy at a hacker convention on Saturday has been charged with witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

Steven Rombom (AKA Steven Rambam) allegedly impersonated a federal officer in April 2006 in an attempt to locate a government witness who his client, Albert Santoro, accuses of entrapment.

Santoro, a former Brooklyn assistant district attorney, faces money-laundering charges.

Rombon was due to give a two-hour talk on how it was possible to get someone's personal background during a presentation at the HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) conference in New York before he was arrested on Saturday.

His arrest is not related to this scheduled presentation, which formed part of a panel discussion entitled Privacy is Dead... Get Over It.

Rombon has been released on bail, is due to re-appear in court on 7 August, The Washington Post reports. ®

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