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Vivek Kundra, who was named by the Obama administration the nation's first Federal chief information officer, has been quietly reinstated and is back on the job, the White House has confirmed.

Kundra was placed on leave last week after FBI agents raided his former office at the District of Columbia technology office and charged a former manager with bribery. At the time the FBI said Kundra was not implicated in the case, but the White House placed him on leave out of caution.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that White House officials confirmed Kundra was back on the job.

Yusuf Acar, 40, who worked in the D.C. technology office since 2004, was arrested on bribery charges alleging that he had created "ghost" workers to garner kickbacks. A contractor, Sushil Bansal, 41, president and chief executive of the contracting firm Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp.

(AITC), was also charged with bribery and money laundering. AITC has received more than $13 million in government contracts from the D.C. government over the past five years, according to Federal agents.

Comments (5)

	1. 03-18-2009 12:56
	This is good news. Vivek is a progressive and well informed. A good person to be helping to move us and US forward... Registered

Dwight Koop

	2. 03-19-2009 19:48
	I really do wish him well in the job and look forward to fresh ideas from the White House, but things just don't get any easier for Vivek Kundra.  The Associated Press reported that Kundra was arrested at age 21 in 1996 for shoplifting four shirts from J.C. Penney valued at $134. The White House has said it is aware of the arrest, but dismissed it as a youthful indiscretion. Story can be read here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jDaDxxs5nOL4AAGUyMQLOKlaXNWwD970LN784 Registered

Mel Duvall

	3. 03-23-2009 10:35
	Everyone makes mistakes in their lives, and looking at this guy for something he did years back is silly. Having a dishonest employee working for you isn't anything new and may not be a reflection on his performance. Still, I'm wondering what other skeletons are in Vivek's closet? Registered

John Sane

	4. 08-13-2009 16:32
	More controversy has emerged surrounding Federal CIO Vivek Kundra. The latest is a report by long-time technology columnist John Dvorak questioning Kundra's qualifications. I wouldn't want to go into the allegations, because Kundra deserves a chance to respond, but Dvorak's report can be read here: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/08/12/special-report-is-us-chief-information-officer-cio-vivek-kundra-a-phony/ Registered

Mel Duvall

	5. 08-14-2009 15:04
	As a follow-up to my last comment, I have posted a blog looking into the accusations against Kundra. It needs to be stated that some of the claims have been debunked. The blog can be viewed here: http://www.ciozone.com/index.php/Blogs/view/4856/.html Registered

Mel Duvall

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