Kundra not implicated in bribery sting but faces uncertain future

Vivek Kundra, President Obama's newly appointed federal chief information officer, is not implicated in the Thursday FBI raid on his former District of Columbia government office, but it could raise questions later about his management abilities and cause a political dust-up, information technology executives said.

While Kundra was delivering a speech on the need for transparency in IT procurements at the annual technology FOSE conference in Washington, FBI agents were arresting Yusuf Acar, an information security officer for the D.C. government who worked for Kundra when Kundra served as the District's chief technology officer. Acar was taken into custody at his home in Washington on Thursday morning and charged with financial conflict of interest, money laundering and conspiracy. He was scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Thursday afternoon.

The FBI also arrested Sushil Bansal, formerly a program manager in the D.C. government and now president and chief executive officer of Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. According to the company's Web site, the District's CTO office awarded AITC several contracts in 2008 worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the charges, but said more information may be available after Acar and Bansal appear in federal court, which was scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon. The Associated Press reported that the White House and Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty were notified before the raid.

Marfara Hobson, Fenty's spokeswoman, said Kundra is not a target of the probe. Kundra declined to comment for this story.

Still, the raid has the potential to cause some political problems for Kundra. "Will people question Vivek's management? Yep. Is that fair? Nope," said a former federal technology manager who asked to remain anonymous. "Fair isn't part of the political process. If any hint of missed oversight arises, expect calls for his resignation. Again, not fair, but political."

Stan Soloway, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council and a former top acquisition executive at the Defense Department, said it was too early to comment on how the arrests could affect Kundra's ability to serve as federal CIO, a high-profile executive position within the government's IT community, because he was not a target of the sting.

"It's unfair and way too early to say this should in any way impact Vivek Kundra," he said. "Things could also come out later about his management capability and what he should have known, but at this point I'd be very hesitant to draw him into it, at least according to what officials are saying."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs characterized the events as "a serious matter" and refused to provide details about the investigation, or comment on the president's confidence in Kundra, The Washington Post reported.

The District's CTO office in Washington was a hive of activity on Thursday, with Metropolitan police officials and FBI agents moving into and out of the building, while employees were told to return home or kept in a waiting area. The building's 10th floor home to the Administrative Services Modernization Program -- which is dedicated to upgrading and streamlining the District's backend computer networks, including payroll, pension benefits, finance and other business functions -- was closed to the public as law enforcement officials searched for evidence.

Fenty appointed Kundra CTO in 2007. Kundra's last day on the job was March 4, when he officially began work as the federal CIO, the government's top IT post. Kundra had been advising the Obama administration on technology issues since the election.