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Is US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra a Phony? This is the sort of question you might ask after trying to actually verify his supposed MS in Information Technology from the University of Maryland, College Park campus. The registrar has no record of it. After initially posting this article the degree has cropped up apparently at the nearby University Campus in 2001. This was found by Nextgov.Com. But his degree in biology has yet to appear as his record shows a degree from College Park Campus for Psychology and nothing more. I have queried the White House for clarification...

Now it can be told: The mysterious petty theft that President Barack Obama's new computer chief committed at age 21 was shoplifting four dress shirts worth $134 from J.C. Penney. A 1996 Montgomery County, Md., police report obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday under a public records law shows Vivek Kundra was observed by a security guard putting the men's shirts into a shopping bag and leaving the store without paying. Sgt. Tom Stanton wrote that Kundra was arrested after a brief foot chase and the property was recovered. Kundra pleaded guilty, paid a $100 fine and $55 in...

President Barack Obama on Saturday chose two Indian-Americans to help to streamline the federal government and cut costs. Obama named Aneesh Chopra, the Harvard-educated secretary of technology for the state of Virginia, as the federal government's first chief technology officer. Chopra, 36, will help reduce health care costs and foster cybersecurity. "In this role, Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities - from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure," Obama said in his Saturday radio and Internet address. Chopra's corporate experience included working as managing director of the Advisory...

roanoke,va - WASHINGTON (AP) - Now it can be told: The mysterious petty theft that President Barack Obama’s new computer chief committed at age 21 was shoplifting four dress shirts worth $134 from J.C. Penney. A 1996 Montgomery County, Md., police report obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday under a public records law shows Vivek Kundra was observed by a security guard putting the men’s shirts into a shopping bag and leaving the store without paying. Sgt. Tom Stanton wrote that Kundra was arrested after a brief foot chase and the property was recovered

WASHINGTON - The new White House computer chief pleaded guilty 12 years ago to a petty theft charge, but it won't cost him his job, a spokesman for President Obama said. Vivek Kundra, 34, hired from Washington's city government, admitted a theft of property valued at under $300 in Maryland, a White House aide confirmed. He was fined $500, but the sentence was suspended and he only had to pay $100. "Thirteen years ago, Vivek committed a youthful indiscretion. He performed community service and we are satisfied that he fully resolved the matter," said Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro. Details of...

By Patrick Thibodeau and Jaikumar Vijayan , Computerworld , 03/13/2009 After being arrested on bribery charges Thursday, the District of Columbia's top information security official is being held without bail, partly because of uncertainty about whether he still has the ability to access the district's IT systems. That's just one of many potential security issues facing D.C. government officials after the FBI raided the district's IT offices and arrested Yusuf Acar, its acting chief security officer, and a second man in connection with an alleged bribery scheme. For instance, Acar had access to personnel data and other confidential information in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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...

Vivek Kundra, the now-suspended White House aide responsible for directing policy and planning for federal IT spending, pleaded guilty to a petty theft charge 12 years ago. Troubles for the man in charge of federal spending and policy on information technology continue to be revealed. According to Maryland state records, Vivek Kundra, the White House chief information officer who took leave last Thursday -- one week after being named to the position, pleaded guilty to a petty theft charge 12 years ago. Kundra, who was formerly the D.C. technology officer, received supervised probation before judgment in 1997 for pleading guilty...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's new computer chief, already on leave after an FBI raid at his old job, turns out to have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in 1996 when he was 21 years old, court records show. It was the latest case of damaging information emerging publicly about one of Obama's choices after he announced their appointment or nomination.

Vivek Kundra, who was on leave from his new appointment by President Obama as the federal government’s chief information officer, has been reinstated, the White House said today. White House officials confirmed to The New York Times that Mr. Kundra had been reinstated today; it was first reported this afternoon by Techpresident.com without confirmation.

Vivek Kundra, President Obama's choice for CIO, apaprently pled out on a theft case in 1996. There is a resolution of a case in the Maryland state records where Vivek Kundra pled "probation before judgment" on a theft case. I am not sure if they allow re-posting, so here is a snippet. The entire article is a fast and worthwhile read.excerpt What is "probation before judgment"? The Maryland Lawyer Blog: Lawyers routinely tell their clients who receive a PBJ that they can legally state that they have not been convicted of a crime.... while a PBJ is not generally considered...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An aide to President Barack Obama is on leave from his White House job after the FBI raided his old District of Columbia government office Thursday, arresting a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said. The charges were lodged against the two men at a federal court hearing as the FBI finished searching the city's technology office, which was led until recently by Obama's new computer chief, Vivek Kundra. Kundra is on leave from his White House job until further details of the case become known, according to a White...

WASHINGTON - Two officials in the D.C.'s Office of the Chief Technology Officer have been arrested in a federal bribery sting, sources tell WTOP. D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employees Sushil Bansal and 40-year-old Yusuf Acar have been arrested, sources tell WTOP. Acar was taken into custody Thursday morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest D.C. The FBI is now serving a search warrant at the office of D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer, WTOP has learned. "We are there as part of a continuing ongoing criminal investigation," FBI Washington Field Office spokesperson Katherine Schweit tells WTOP. Schweit...

The White House press office announced today that Vivek Kundra, the current chief technology officer of Washington DC, will be assuming the position of Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the White House. The appointment of a top CIO is another first: the position did not exist in any previous administrations. Kundra will also have final say on government technology purchases , and will have the authority to overrule his peers at subordinate agencies.