D.C. Council to probe technology office scandal
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
March 30, 2009
The D.C. Council will commence an independent investigation, complete with subpoena power, into the technology office bribery scandal after Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration snubbed a scheduled council briefing.
Fenty’s fixes
Mayor Adrian Fenty fired 23 independent OCTO contractors and several office employees.
Asked auditing firm BDO Seidman to examine individual technology contracts.
Hired an IT security firm to assess OCTO’s security practices
Reduced the agency’s procurement limit from $500,000 to $100,000.
The Office of the Chief Technology Officer is under federal investigation for a kickback scam that spurred the arrest earlier this month of an OCTO manager and a technology office contractor. The two are accused of faking invoices and time sheets, with the assistance of several co-conspirators, in a seven-figure embezzlement scam.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh said Monday that she would ask members of the government operations committee, which she chairs, to initiate an independent inquiry that would include the power to subpoena witnesses. Cheh, joined by Council Chairman Vincent Gray, adjourned a public briefing into the OCTO scandal after 10 minutes because none of the invited guests showed up.
“The council recognizes and appreciates that there is an ongoing criminal investigation and that the executive is taking steps to uncover how this situation occurred,” Gray said. “But these important and necessary actions are not a substitute for the oversight role of the council.”
In a letter delivered Friday, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeffrey Taylor asked D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles not to participate in the council’s briefing, citing the continuing investigation.
“While we understand the Council’s responsibility for fiscal oversight of city agencies and their legitimate concern about the allegations raised in the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, we are concerned that the ongoing investigation would be adversely affected by such a public hearing at this time,” Taylor wrote.
Nickles conveyed to the council last week, he said Monday, that “what you’re asking about is the essence of the federal criminal grand jury.”
The council “has a wholly independent interest in determining what happened and what can be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Cheh responded. The council has used its subpoena authority in recent years to investigate the $50 million tax office scandal and problems with recent elections.
OCTO was, until recently, run by Vivek Kundra, who has since been hired as chief technology officer under President Barack Obama. Fenty has appointed Chris Willey, a Kundra deputy, as interim OCTO director.
