from raw story: The office of the District of Columbia's chief technology officer was raided by federal agents Thursday morning as part of a federal bribery sting.The Washington Post is reporting that Yusuf Acar, 40, was taken into custody this morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest Washington. The nature of the charges is not yet known and the U.S. Attorney's Office is declining to comment on the arrest.
Acar previously worked under Vivek Kundra, President Obama's appointee as federal chief information officer, when Kundra served as the district's chief technology officer.
"Acar serves as an information systems security officer in the D.C. government and earns $127,468. He has worked for the city since November 2004," reports The Post. "The Office of the Chief Technology Officer has a budget of about $69 million and 298 employees."
A second person, D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employee Sushil Bansal was also reportedly arrested in the sting according to a report by WTOP. The Associated Press has confirmed the arrest of Bansal.Bansal's company, Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation, of which he is the CEO had a $220,000 contract with the District. That yearlong contract ended yesterday.
The company also had another contract, worth $130,000 with the District. It was a recurring contract that ended in Sept. 2008
The Post is reporting that, according to D.C. Council records, AITC was awarded a $10 million, one-year contract in June 2008 to provide "information technology services, equipment and software." As payment was to be based on task orders and delivery, the company may not have already received the entire $10 million. That contract can be viewed here.
AITC describes itself on its company Web site as, "a highly professional company with strong ethics and business values."
In 2008 Bansal was the recipient of an award from the Washington, DC chapter of the Association of Indians in America as its 'Entrepreneur of the Year.'
"Mr. Bansal was selected for this award for his outstanding contribution in the field of information technology and to the growth of AITC. Mr. Bansal is founder and CEO of AITC," according to a brief from the company.
WTOP is reporting that more than a dozen FBI agents, including evidence technicians, took part in the raid. Most employees of the office have been told to go home, though other employees "have been segregated into a waiting room."
Politico's Ben Smith adds, "The outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was appointed last week Chief Information Officer by the Obama administration. His last day at the city government office was February 4, a spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Leslie Kershaw, said. He was appointed to the Washington post in 2007."
A spokeswoman for Mayor Fenty has said Kundra is not a target of the investigation, reports Reuters.
update1: obama official on leave after fbi raids
from ap: An aide to President Barack Obama is on leave from his White House job after the FBI raided his old District of Columbia government office Thursday, arresting a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said. The charges were lodged against the two men at a federal court hearing as the FBI finished searching the city's technology office, which was led until recently by Obama's new computer chief, Vivek Kundra. Kundra is on leave from his White House job until further details of the case become known, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity because the official did not want to publicly discuss personnel matters.
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