FBI Raids D.C.'s CTO Office

Just weeks after President Obama named D.C. Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra to serve as the nation's chief information officer, federal agents raid Kundra's former office and the home of a prominenet D.C. contractor. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said the raids were unrelated to Kundra, while the FBI only says the raids were part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

The FBI conducted two raids early March 12 focused on the District of Columbia's chief technology office. One raid, which is still ongoing, hit the D.C. CTO office while a related raid descended on the home of Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. President and CEO Sushil Bansal.

Both Bansal and D.C. CTO employee Yusuf Acar were arrested in the raids. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's office said the raid was not related to Vivek Kundra, D.C.'s former CTO who resigned March 4 to accept President Obama's offer to serve as the nation's chief information officer. The FBI did not return requests for comment.

Bansal's AITC received .NWT Development Support and Peoplesoft Consulting Support contracts totaling $350,000 through the D.C. CTO office in 2008. Bansal's firm has also received contracts through the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles. According to the AITC Website, Bansal was honored last year with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Association of Indians in America.

Washington's WTOP radio station reported that the raid on the CTO office resulted in most employees being sent home for the day, after more than a dozen FBI agents swept through the office.

"We are there as part of a continuing ongoing criminal investigation," FBI Washington Field Office spokesperson Katherine Schweit told WTOP.