Kundra reinstated to federal CIO post

Vivek Kundra has returned to work as the federal chief information officer, a White House source has confirmed.

Kundra, former chief technology officer for Washington, D.C., had been appointed to the post March 5, but took a leave of absence last week, after the FBI arrested a D.C. information security officer and a contractor as part of a bribery investigation.

Kundra had not been suspected of wrongdoing, officials said -- the White House described his leave of absence as a cautionary measure -- and a White House source confirmed to GCN Tuesday evening that Kundra was back on the job. "Mr. Kundra has been informed that he is neither a subject nor a target of the investigation, and has been reinstated," the source said.

The FBI on March 12 arrested Yusuf Acar, an information security specialist who worked for Kundra, and charged him with bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and conflict of interest. The FBI also arrested Sushil Bansal, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp., on charges of bribery and money laundering. The two allegedly collaborated in a kickback scheme involving city contracts.

Kundra has gained a reputation for technology innovation, particularly with Web 2.0 applications, as the Washington CTO and, before that, as Virginia’s assistant secretary of commerce and technology.