Thread: D.C. Tech Official Is Accused of Bribery

Acar also told the informant that he could use computers to create fake D.C. birth certificates, Hibarger said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 9031201592

D.C. Tech Official Is Accused of Bribery

By Del Quentin Wilber and Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 13, 2009; Page B01

A D.C. government official and a business executive were arrested yesterday on bribery charges involving city technology contracts that included "ghost" workers and kickbacks, federal authorities said.

Raiding offices in the hunt for documents, FBI agents carted away boxes and envelopes throughout the day from the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the center of the alleged fraud.

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

Authorities said the conspiracy was uncovered with the help of a D.C. government employee who recorded conversations with 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.

Until recently, the technology office was headed by Vivek Kundra, who has taken a job as President Obama's chief information officer. A White House official confirmed last night that Kundra has taken a leave of absence.

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.

Yusuf Acar, 40, who has worked in the technology office since 2004, was charged with bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and conflict of interest. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Hibarger told a federal judge that Acar 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.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola ordered the Northwest Washington resident held without bond until a hearing Tuesday. At least three other D.C. employees who have not been charged were involved in varying degrees, Sekela alleged.

Sushil Bansal, 41, president and chief executive of the contracting firm Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. (AITC), was charged with bribery and money laundering. He was released on personal recognizance. Federal agents said Bansal's company received more than $13 million in revenue from the D.C. government in the past five years.

Bansal's attorney, David Lamb, declined to comment. Dani Jahn, a public defender who represented Acar yesterday, also declined to comment.

The technology office is one of two city agencies that are given some leeway in purchase orders. It can dole out noncompetitive orders up to $500,000, compared with a $100,000 limit for other agencies. Acar was one of about 50 managers in the technology office, which has a $69 million budget, 300 employees and 300 contractors.

Federal authorities said the conspiracy, which operated for at least a year, worked like this:

Acar approved work with a vendor, such as Bansal's AITC, to arrange the purchase of goods such as software. The vendor ordered fewer items but billed the District for a larger amount. Bansal, Acar and others then split the proceeds, FBI officials said.

Acar also approved fraudulent time sheets for nonexistent employees, Sekela wrote. Acar and the others split the proceeds paid by the D.C. government, Sekela alleged.

Authorities traced more than $200,000 in payments last year from Bansal's firm to a private company, Circle Networks Inc. The firm is co-owned by Acar, even though he is prohibited from having an interest in any company doing business with the city, Sekela wrote. Circle Networks generated about $2.2 million in revenue through D.C. government contracts, the agent wrote.

Owner Daris Lewis said he had bought out his former partner in Circle Networks several years ago. "I'm a small, veteran-owned business," he said, adding that he did nothing inappropriate. "I don't have anything to do with it."

FBI agents also alleged that Bansal's firm issued $70,201 in checks to Acar's wife, Galen, in 2006 and 2007.

The scam began unraveling in March last year when Acar recruited an unidentified D.C. government employee, an Army veteran who has a master's degree in electrical engineering, FBI agents wrote.

Over drinks one Friday after work, Acar told the employee about the bribery and kickback operation and how it worked, Sekela wrote. The informant approached the FBI and began wearing a hidden recording device and secretly recording phone conversations involving Acar and Bansal.

During a December conversation, Sekela wrote, Acar and the informant discussed what could happen if they were caught. "No, nothing," Acar told the informant, according to a transcript of the call. "I will jump on the next plane, go to Turkey and disappear."

The pair also discussed how they should split money and haggled over their share. After a software deal went through, the FBI agent wrote, the informant received $8,247 from Bansal's company. In late January, Bansal showed up at the informant's office and gave him an envelope stuffed with $3,520 in cash because Bansal and Acar had decided to boost his share of the proceeds, Sekela wrote.

Last month, Sekela wrote, Acar intercepted an e-mail from the D.C. Office of Inspector General. He told the informant in a taped conversation that he had set up a computer system to intercept e-mails that mentioned his name and others, according to Sekela.

Sekela did not disclose what was in the e-mail, but something apparently was worrying Acar.

"Are we going to jail?" he asked the informant.

Staff writers Hamil R. Harris, Dan Keating, David Nakamura, Elissa Silverman and Scott Wilson and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.

The scam began unraveling in March last year when Acar recruited an unidentified D.C. government employee, an Army veteran who has a master's degree in electrical engineering, FBI agents wrote.

Leave it to a Veteran to be steadfast and true!

. Acar also told the informant that he could use computers to create fake D.C. birth certificates, Hibarger said.



Oh really? And just how he is at creating fake Hawaiin BCs?

He is, after all, another obama "associate"

So, I am not going by names alone, but apparently these guys, or at least one of them, are not citizens?

Here on any kind of visa's related to the work hired for?

If so, we need to make sure people are aware of it.

Originally Posted by AE

So, I am not going by names alone, but apparently these guys, or at least one of them, are not citizens?

Here on any kind of visa's related to the work hired for?

If so, we need to make sure people are aware of it.

The whole story is very complex. I often debate these issue on other discussion forums and it is pointed out sometimes I am wrong because there were changes in government policies that only lawyers can understand. That is how immigration is run in the United States right now: lawyers use hundreds of pages of legalize to shut out the "American citizen". As you may have guessed, the whole purpose is to help keep US borders open to individuals from other countries in such a way that it is secretive and beyond the knowledge of the average citizen. Many people think this is a good thing because they despise American citizens in general and see the whole immigration and visa process as a "game" in which American citizens are turned it losers.

So I will try to explain what I think is going on, even though a slick "Washingtonian hustler" will go "wrong, wrong, wrong". Yes, I may have many of the details wrong, but I think I have some of the details "right" because I still believe that the basic principles of the US Constitution still apply to immigration law no how matter how many foreigners and anti-America lawyers hate us.

The one way to some up the main issue is this:

A company owner from India named Bansal moved to the United States, apparently not a "permanent" resident, but as an H-1B guest worker. He works in name as the president of a company, AICT. It is unclear to me how much a "president" he can be if he is guest worker, but so be it. I am sure that some crooked immigration lawyer can explain this better than I.

Vivek Kundra is an American citizen of Indian origin. Yes, it does matter, because Kundra was one many thousands of Washington D.C. employees who are extremely fanatical about having American government work outsourced to companies in India. This is so Washington jobs can be eliminated for American citizens and American citizens thrown out of work. Again, I am sure that a sleazy anti-American immigration lawyer can explain all this better than I can.

Kundra used to use the company AICT to outsource work to India. Kundra did this while having the title of CTO or Chief Technology Officer for the District of Columbia. Obama decided to promote Kundra to a higher level Federal government post that would give him more influence over the nation's Information Infrastructure.

A former coworker's of Kundra named Acur, stepped up to run the operations of the DC CTO office. Again, we have government employee telling us that work that could be done by American citizens should be offshored to India and paid for by American taxpayers. But that is part of the sleaze and corruption of Washington right now, so who am I too complain? Also, if you express the opinion that American citizens should be allowed to do the work instead of Indians, people will tell you to shut up because you must be "racist" against people from India. Who am I to argue that?

The CTO office employee Acur, accepted a $70,000 bribe "kickback" payment from the Indian company owner Bansal in exchange for being awarded more Washington information technology contracts.

The FBI just raided Kundra's former CTO office where Acur works now because they had evidence that Acur had the bribe mony. The FBI also uncovered evidence that bribes for contracts was a standard operating procedure while Kundra ran the CTO office, but we are being given the incredible "he must be innocent" lie. And then Obama removed Kundra from his newly appointed office.

All the sleazy "I hate Americans, foreigners are better people" types are rushing to Kundra's defense saying what a wonderful person he is and he could not have really had knowledge of the $70,000 bribe.

You figure it out. Just don't be surprised that someone calls you a "racist" just because you want to know what is really going on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all racists anyways...I want the truth though. I am a very confrontational person, and these tactics do not scare me away (I have chased burglars out of our place before).

I am sick of the American bashing. If it were not for us, most nations would still be third world slums, and most Europeans who regularly bash us, would be under a fascist regime, and we all know what I mean. We have spared the behinds of many, rebuilt others nations, assisted in sparing many from takeover, brought in troops to stop dictators, given out billions if not trillions in aid and help, yet we are now the bad guys who are racists, xenophobes, protectionists, lame, whatever the little punk-head, snot nosed brats of the world want to say to justify their wrong doings and cheating.

I do not care what others think, I do not care if they call names. They can huff and puff all they want, because that is ALL they have to argue with, and I KNOW they are bluffing and are on the wrong side.

The great thing about knowing you are right, the confidence it gives you to face liars and cheats who would like to point fingers and call names to deflect from their own wrongdoing.

Originally Posted by AE

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all racists anyways...I want the truth though. I am a very confrontational person, and these tactics do not scare me away (I have chased burglars out of our place before).

Here's another story about Vivek Kundra:

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/16/kundras-record/

Kundra’s record?

posted at 8:52 am on March 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Vivek Kundra took a leave of absence from his new job as the Obama administration’s Chief Information Officer after the FBI raided the offices of his last position, Washington DC’s Chief Technology Officer, in a bribery and corruption sting. That, however, doesn’t appear to be Kundra’s first brush with the law. After getting a tip, I checked Maryland’s on-line database of criminal records and discovered an entry for a Vivek Kundra, born in 1974 and living in Gaithersburg, in Montgomery County’s criminal district court. According to the data, Vivek Kundra got convicted of misdemeanor theft (for less than $300) on July 31, 1997, in case #0D00031388.

Should this be a disqualifying event for high government office, however? One has to believe that a background check would have uncovered this conviction and the resultant low fine of $530, with $400 of it suspended. The comparison to Tim Geithner, who evaded paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes, makes Kundra’s misdemeanor look like a merit badge, but Geithner never got convicted in court, either.
According to the White House press release for Kundra’s appointment, Kundra had quite a resume for the job. Not only had he served essentially the same role for DC, but also served a dual role in Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration in Virginia:

Vivek Kundra formerly served in Mayor Fenty’s cabinet as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the District of Columbia, responsible for technology operations and strategy for 86 agencies. He has been recognized among the top 25 CTO’s in the country and as the 2008 IT Executive of the Year for his pioneering work to drive transparency, engage citizens and lower the cost of government operations. Kundra is also recognized for his leadership in public safety communications, cyber security and IT portfolio management. Before Kundra came to the District, Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed him Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the first dual cabinet role in the state’s history. Kundra’s diverse record also includes technology and public policy experience in private industry and academia. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership and holds a MS in Information Technology from the University of Maryland.

Taking all of that at face value, should a conviction at 23 years old for misdemeanor theft, from 12 years ago, keep someone with his talents out of government?

I’ve contacted the White House for comment. When I hear back, I’ll update the post.

Update: No response yet from the White House, but I’ll add this from my own experience in the security industry. I ran burg/fire call centers for 15 years, and our employees had to get licensed in several states. In a couple of those states, any adult theft conviction at all would be disqualifying. In some states, they didn’t care about misdemeanors after 10 years. Kundra probably couldn’t get licensed to work in my call center, but apparently can get a job in the White House. I find that fascinatingly ironic, even if it is explainable.

Originally Posted by AE

So, I am not going by names alone, but apparently these guys, or at least one of them, are not citizens?

It is beginning to read like a James Bond movie. How many "diplomatic pouches" does our government give out? (or do you just bribe someone for one?)


Ex-employee of DC Technology Office remains jailed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_ ... office_fbi

WASHINGTON – A federal judge Tuesday ordered a former District of Columbia employee facing corruption charges to remain jailed in a case that prompted his former boss to take a brief leave of absence as President Barack Obama's computer chief.

Yusuf Acar, who was the acting chief security officer in D.C.'s technology office, is accused of defrauding the city through a sophisticated bribery and fraud scheme.

The allegations include billing the city for items that were never delivered and "ghost" contract employees who didn't work. Authorities say Acar approved falsified bills and split the money with vendors who submitted them.

Acar's boss, Vivek Kundra, was recently appointed to the White House post of chief federal information officer. Kundra was put on leave Thursday and was reinstated by the White House on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has said Kundra was not suspected of any wrongdoing in the case. According to court records, Kundra once pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in Maryland in 1996 when he was 21 years old. The White House called the theft a "youthful indiscretion."

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola said at Tuesday's hearing he was struck by a recorded conversation, cited in court documents, in which Acar, a native of Turkey, says he would "jump on the next plane, go to Turkey and disappear" to avoid arrest.

"It seems only fair that I should hold him to his word," Facciola said.

Acar's lawyer, public defender Dani Jahn, said her client was merely boasting and that he has strong ties to the Washington area, including four children. Jahn requested home detention for Acar.

Acar was arrested Thursday along with technology consultant Sushil Bansal, of Dunn Loring, Va., who was released last week but ordered not to conduct overseas financial transactions or leave the region.

The men are described in court documents as the "two primary participants," in the alleged scheme, which prosecutors believe was carried out for years.

The total amount of money involved is not yet known. The allegations come after federal investigators uncovered a massive embezzlement scheme in 2007 in D.C.'s tax office.

In a court filing Monday, prosecutors urged the judge to keep Acar in jail, warning that "he has the motive, skills and wherewithal to flee and thrive on the lam."

Acar recently gave his mother $100,000 to take back to Turkey and was preparing to smuggle an additional $200,000 with help from a friend who has a diplomatic pouch, which is immune from being searched, prosecutors said. Acar also was trying to set up several foreign bank accounts.

___

Associated Press writer Michael J. Sniffen contributed to this story.