Police investigating House staffers over computer thefts, purchases

U.S. Capitol Police said this week they are investigating the activities of five shared IT employees of the House after incidents of theft and other irregularities were discovered. Officials are looking into the reported disappearance of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computer hardware. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Feb. 3 (UPI) — Authorities are investigating the activities of several shared IT employees of the U.S. House of Representatives after multiple instances of theft and other irregularities were uncovered, officials said.

U.S. Capitol Police are looking into the activity — which supposedly includes theft of hardware, inappropriately accessing computers and making purchases on congressional computers.

The five employees, four men and a woman, are involved in the criminal investigation and their access to congressional computers were revoked Thursday, officials said. However, no arrests have been made so far.

Fox News reported Friday that the missing hardware was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The items were reportedly taken from 20 different congressional offices.

Officials are also examining other irregularities, including unusual bookkeeping practices that purportedly allowed perpetrators to pocket cash.

“At the request of members of Congress, the United States Capitol Police are investigating the actions of House IT support staff,” a police spokeswoman said. “No [lawmakers] are being investigated.”

Police have been investigating the case since late last year, Politico reported.

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