A Whistle Heard

The good news in how a D.C. technology office scandal was brought to light

PERHAPS the most shocking aspect of the $50 million scandal in the District tax office was how city workers tolerated, even condoned, the obvious corruption. So even though recent reports of a new government swindle are disturbing, it is cheering that it was a D.C. employee who helped foil the alleged scheme. It is likely that his willingness to do the right thing saved a considerable amount of tax money and should restore some badly needed trust in government.

It is still too early to know how widespread the alleged wrongdoing is in the case involving the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer. An FBI raid last week resulted in the arrests of the city's acting chief security officer and a business executive; five unidentified city workers implicated but not charged have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues. In an affidavit, the FBI details its charges of how Yusuf Acar used his $127,468 per-year position to steer city technology contracts in return for bribes and to get kickbacks for "ghost" employees and goods.

Mr. Acar's undoing, as alleged by the FBI, was his attempt to recruit a colleague into his scheme. Identified in the affidavit only as "the Cooperating Witness," this employee -- honorably discharged from the Army after eight years and with a master's degree in electrical engineering -- instead blew the whistle. Not only did he alert authorities to the scam, but he also helped the government build its case by recording conversations.

Prosecutors at this point won't reveal any further details, so who knows what prompted the whistleblower to step forward. Some have speculated that he might have had a grudge, while others wonder whether the new ethics training for city workers undertaken in the aftermath of the massive tax scandal had an effect. What's important, as FBI agent Andrew Sekela wrote, is that the information he provided "has always proven to be reliable." It is clear from how this scheme was said to be structured that the District still has some way to go in improving its system of checks and balances to prevent theft and fraud. Nothing is more effective than having workers willing to blow the whistle on wrongdoing.