FBI agents arrested private detective Steven Rombom--who also uses the name "Steven Rambam"--this weekend, minutes before the investigator was scheduled to give a panel discussion on information gathering at the Hackers on Planet Earth 2006 conference in New York City.

Rombom, senior director of investigation firm Pallorium, is charged with a single count of influencing a law enforcement officer or member of jury, according to the probable-cause complaint. The charge stems from an incident where Rombom allegedly impersonated a law enforcement officer to question the family of a confidential informant who had aided police in a money laundering case that will be tried in August, the complaint said.

Rombom had been scheduled to lead a panel discussion on database, privacy and computer-aided investigation at the HOPE 2006 conference titled "Privacy is Dead -- Get Over It." Private investigators' access to supposedly private records has moved center stage following revelations that at least a dozen companies sold access to phone and cell records in the past. The issue of online privacy has also been highlighted by major data breaches and the current flap surrounding the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.

The FBI office in New York City confirmed the arrest. Rombom will be arraigned in court today, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The FBI did not explain the timing of Rombom's arrest.

Representatives of Pallorium could not immediately be reached for comment.