Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd has dodged a number of embarassing civil lawsuits related to his behavior at the company, but can he clear a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission?

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported the SEC has begun a preliminary investigation into the sudden resignation of Hurd in August.

Officially Hurd resigned due to inaccurate expense reports, discovered during an internal investigation prompted by a marketing contractor who had accused Hurd of sexual harassment. The contracter, Jodie Fisher, decided not to sue, but an internal HP probe concluded that Hurd had a "profound lack of judgment" in his relationship with Fisher.

Now, as the Journal notes, the SEC is looking into whether or not Hurd leaked his plans to acquire Electronic Data Systems (EDS), which HP purchased in 2006 for $13.9 billion. The SEC could only charge him for insider trading if it discovered that Fisher traded upon this information. The SEC is also looking at Mr. Hurd's use of corporate expenses in his dealings with Fisher, sources told the Journal.

"HP is cooperating fully with the SEC on its investigation," an HP spokesperson said.

After his departure from HP, Hurd was sued by its board of directors for "gross mismanagement." When news surfaced in September that he was joining rival Oracle, Hurd was slapped with another lawsuit for breach of contract. Meanwhile HP replaced Hurd with former SAP CEO (and bitter Oracle rival), Leo Apothekar.

In a statement obtained by AP, Hurd's spokesman, Mark Satterfield, said, "Mark acted properly in all respects. It is understandable that the SEC is looking into the events surrounding Mark's departure, which was followed by a precipitous drop in the value of HP's stock" - a reference to the 10-point drop that HP has yet to recoup.