DOJ Charges Former Obama Acting DHS Inspector General on Theft and Scheme to Defraud the US Government

On Friday, former Obama Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards and his former assistant Murali Yamazula Venkata were charged with stealing government property and attempting to defraud the US government. Yamazula was also accused of destroying records.

The DOJ alleges that Edwards and his aide orchestrated a scheme with others in the Inspector General’s office to steal confidential and proprietary software which included personal identifying information of DHS and USPS employees. Edwards was trying to resell an enhanced version of the software from his company, Delta Business Solutions, to the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a profit.

The indictment charges Charles K. 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. The indictment also charges Venkata with destruction of records.

According to the allegations in the indictment, from October 2014 to April 2017, Edwards, Venkata, and others executed a scheme to defraud the U.S. government by stealing confidential and proprietary software from DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), along with sensitive government databases containing personal identifying information (PII) of DHS and USPS employees, so that Edwards’s company, Delta Business Solutions, could later sell an enhanced version of DHS-OIG’s software to the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a profit. Although Edwards had left DHS-OIG in December 2013, he continued to leverage his relationship with Venkata and other DHS-OIG employees to steal the software and the sensitive government databases.

Murali Yamazula Venkata also assisted the Homeland Security IG’s computer so he can basically upload the stolen software and databases so that he can basically have his indian connections modify a copy of it and resell it:

The indictment further alleges that, in addition to stealing DHS-OIG’s software and the sensitive government databases, Venkata and others also assisted Edwards by reconfiguring his laptop so that he could properly upload the stolen software and databases, provided troubleshooting support whenever Edwards required it, and helped him build a testing server at his residence with the stolen software and databases, which contained PII. As further part of the alleged scheme, Edwards retained software developers in India for the purpose of developing his commercial alternative of DHS-OIG’s software.

These crimes happened after Edwards left the Dept. of Homeland Security in 2013. After leaving, this was when he was working with Venkata and others within the office to conduct his scheme, which lasted for 3 years (2014 – 2017).

Information on former Obama Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards

Back in 2013, whistleblowers accused Edwards of abussing his position and violating ethics standards which pressured him to resign.

Add this to the long list of rebuttals to the claim that Obama had a “scandal-free presidency”.