[ISN] Nevada's cyber-security chief charged with embezzlement

[InfoSec News]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/may/06/050610367.html

ASSOCIATED PRESS 
May 06, 2006 

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Randy Potts, chief of security for Nevada's 
Department of Information Technology, has been charged with theft, 
embezzlement and falsifying records. 

The Nevada Attorney General's Office began an investigation after 
Potts filed claims seeking $1,757 in reimbursement for expenses 
incurred while attending a homeland security conference last year in 
Denver. 

According to the criminal complaint issued Thursday, Potts obtained 
permission to attend the four-day conference that began last Nov. 29 
after submitting a flier about it to department Director Terry Savage. 

But the conference actually was held in April 2005, the complaint 
alleges. 

Potts is accused of falsifying information in his request to attend 
the conference and of altering the date on the flier submitted to 
Savage. 

Potts has been on administrative leave since the formal investigation 
began in March. 

Potts has worked for the department for about three years, and has 
done an excellent job improving cyber-security for state agencies, 
Savage said. 

Savage said he would talk with the attorney general's office to 
determine what course of action he would take concerning Potts' job 
future. 

"I hope to resolve that issue next week," Savage told the Nevada 
Appeal. 

When questioned about the expenses, Potts submitted a two-page memo 
citing meetings with Colorado's chief information security officer and 
the Colorado Information Management Commission. 

But the memo did not mention anything about the homeland security 
meeting he used to justify the trip in the first place, Savage said. 

The money approved to pay for the trip came from a federal homeland 
security grant designated for use only on homeland security awareness 
training.