Abandoned Computers Explained

Old D.C. Tax Units Sold, Then Trashed

Two D.C. government computer servers were abandoned as trash by an unidentified woman who decided it would cost too much to ship them out of state to the buyer, according to witnesses. City records indicate that the equipment had been purchased at an auction.

The mysterious discovery of the computer servers in a trash alley in Columbia Heights, along with labels showing they were property of the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue, generated concerns that enormous amounts of confidential city taxpayer information could be at risk. The FBI took possession of the servers late Thursday, based on investigators' concerns that they could contain evidence relevant to a large corruption probe that has centered on the D.C. tax office since October.

But details that emerged yesterday suggested that although the city government lacks a reliable system to track older computer equipment, the concerns about privacy and evidence were not warranted.

City technology officials said they inspected the servers at FBI headquarters yesterday morning and do not think the devices stored any confidential or sensitive taxpayer data. They said the Compaq and Unisys units were used for answering agency phones with computerized responses, so they would presumably provide no value to the investigation into what federal authorities say is the largest embezzlement scam in Washington's history.

The 10-year-old servers are listed as being sold as a pair Jan. 24 in an online auction of excess D.C. government equipment, according to auction records reviewed yesterday by The Washington Post.

Mike Teller, a deputy for D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, said in an interview yesterday that it was "too early to tell" whether the servers had been sold at auction. Gandhi oversees the tax office. Teller said the servers predate a five-year-old equipment tracking system, so he could not say for certain when the tax office stopped using the servers and which D.C. agency took possession of them after that.

Teller said policy calls for Gandhi's office to remove any stored data before relinquishing its computer equipment to another agency or for public sale.

Owners of a United Parcel Service store in Columbia Heights said yesterday that they found their experience with the servers perplexing and came forward with an account after they read a Post report yesterday about the discovery of the equipment. They said a woman in her 20s tried Tuesday to ship the servers to a Pennsylvania address. But after she learned that it would cost $275 and conferred with a man in Pennsylvania whom she described as the buyer, she said she and the buyer had decided to throw the servers away, the store operators said. She asked for help taking them to the nearby alley's trash compactor.

"It was all a little suspicious," said Ravi Bhatia, who manages the store and runs it with his son. "My reaction was one of concern. It's a very serious thing if someone is trying to steal or hide this data."

Bhatia and his son Naman Bhatia said they did not know the identity of the woman or the Pennsylvania buyer. The FBI called the Bhatias yesterday, and agents told them that they would be interviewed about the woman.

The FBI has declined to comment on the development. It could not be learned whether the FBI would discontinue its review of the servers now that city officials have said the computer equipment does not store tax office data.

Since November, two former employees of the tax office and eight others have been charged with conspiring to steal at least $20 million by generating fraudulent property tax refund checks for fictitious companies and conspirators who were never owed any refunds. The theft began at least a decade ago and escalated, federal prosecutors allege, but was never detected by city auditors or supervisors at Gandhi's office.