March 12, 2009; 3:32 PM

An official in the D.C. government's Office of the Chief Technology Officer has been charged with financial conflict of interest, money laundering and conspiracy, and a contractor with the office is facing similar charges, law enforcement sources said.

Yusuf Acar, 40, was taken into custody this morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest Washington, the sources said. Acar is an information systems security officer.

Sushil Bansal, president and chief executive of Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. and a contractor with the technology office, also has been arrested. Bansal formerly worked for the D.C. government.

Both are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.

Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment on the arrests, saying the case "is under seal."

Federal agents began investigating the pair about a year ago, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The source requested anonymity because the case is pending.

The source said Acar solicited and accepted bribes from Bansal and awarded contracts to his company. Bansal's company also charged, with Acar's knowledge, the District for "ghost employees," who did no work, the source said.

Acar has worked for the city since 2004 and earns $127,468. He worked for Vivek Kundra, the city's chief technology officer, who recently left D.C. government to become President Obama's federal chief information officer. Kundra is not suspected of any wrongdoing, the source said.


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