Obama's Indian American information czar goes on leave till end of FBI probe

Washington, Mar.13 (ANI): US President Barack Obama's Indian American White House chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, has gone on leave until the FBI completes its investigation into the Washington city office he once headed.

Kundra went on leave after federal agents arrested an Indian-American businessman and a Washington DC government official on corruption charges on Thursday and searched the offices of the capital city's chief technology officer as part of a corruption probe.

The raid came a week after Kundra, former director of the agency responsible for overseeing the city's telecommunications infrastructure, was named as the White House chief information officer.

CNN, however, cited a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation as saying that Kundra is not involved in the case.

Kundra is taking a leave of absence until further notice from his post at the Office of Management and Budget until more details become known about the FBI investigation, the news channel said citing a White House official.

Yusuf Acar, a contracting officer for Washington's city government, and Sushil Bansal, a former city employee, are accused of swindling the city out of several million dollars by inflating purchase orders and billing the city for work by "ghost" employees of Bansal's companies. They made initial appearances in federal court Thursday.

Court papers said that both have been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and money laundering. (ANI)