Obama Official Placed on Leave After Technology Office Arrests

Obama Official Placed on Leave After Technology Office Arrests


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031301449.html
Friday, March 13, 2009; 11:57 AM
The White House said this morning that President Obama's chief information officer has been placed on leave out of "an abundance of caution," even though federal authorities say the staffer is not being investigated in connection with an alleged bribery scam at the D.C. government office he headed until early this month.
Vivek Kundra, who was tapped as the White House technology czar March 5, oversaw technology projects and budgets for 86 D.C. government agencies as head of the District's Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

Yesterday, a mid-level manager in that office was arrested, along with a business executive, on bribery charges involving city contracts that included "ghost" workers and kickbacks, federal authorities said.

Yusuf Acar, 40, who has worked in the technology office since 2004, was charged with bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and conflict of interest. Sushil Bansal, 41, president and chief executive of the contracting firm Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. (AITC), was charged with bribery and money laundering. Federal agents said Bansal's company received more than $13 million in revenue from the D.C. government in the past five years.
FBI agents carted away boxes and envelopes from the Office of the Chief Technology Officer throughout the day.

In court documents, FBI agent Andrew Sekela laid out the complicated and audacious schemes allegedly orchestrated by Acar, a mid-level manager who approved many contracts involving the city government's technology needs.

At least three other D.C. employees who have not been charged were involved in varying degrees, Sekela alleged. But federal authorities said in interviews that Kundra is not suspected of any wrongdoing and his name did not come up in the investigation.

An official with the Obama administration, which has made strengthening government ethics a priority, said Kundra is "on leave until further details become known " about the investigation.

Authorities said the conspiracy was uncovered with the help of a D.C. government employee who recorded conversations with Acar and the executive and the city official.

The ultimate cost to the city is not known, but the disclosure comes as it is trying to recoup its losses from an embarrassing tax swindle that siphoned almost $50 million from its coffers over almost two decades.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said he was unaware of the technology office investigation until yesterday's raid and arrests. He said the city will "cooperate fully" with the probe.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Hibarger told a federal judge that Acar, of Northwest Washington, is a flight risk because agents seized $70,000 in cash in his house and because in recorded conversations, he boasted that he could easily flee to his native Turkey. Acar also told the informant that he could use computers to create fake D.C. birth certificates, Hibarger said










FBI Searches Kundra's Former Offices as He Rallies IT Troops

Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld
Mar 12, 2009 4:27 pm
http://www.pcworld.com/article/161173/fbi_searches_kundras_former_offices_as_he_rallies_it_troops.html

While new federal CIO Vivek Kundra gave a speech here Thursday morning on his vision for the U.S. government's use of technology, the FBI conducted a search of the District of Columbia's IT offices - where Kundra worked until last week - and arrested an employee and another person who works for an outsourcing vendor, according to published reports.

There was no indication that Kundra was connected in any way to the FBI's raid, which was part of a bribery sting operation. And if Kundra was aware of what was going on at his former offices or concerned about the raid, it wasn't evident during his speech at FOSE 2009, a trade show focused on government IT.

President Barack Obama last week appointed Kundra to be the federal government's first official CIO. Prior to taking that job, Kundra was the District of Columbia's chief technology officer.

What we have to realize is that those who are taken down by reports of bribery, conspiracy, money laundering, sex charges and so on were set up long ago.

They gave them important positions, dangled a few carrots, some took the bait and presto. Blackmail to be used if necessary.

Every single person has a file....since birth.
Hopefully, some didn't take the bait and are lurking and waiting to help when the time comes.
That's what I want to believe.