WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The Pentagon on Tuesday widened its investigation into the procurement scandal ignited by a formersenior Air Force acquisition official, starting to review a wide range of contracts that involved the official.

    Acting Pentagon acquisitions chief Michael Wynne announced actions intended to probe the misdeeds of Darleen Druyun, the former No. 2. US Air Force arms buyer, and prevent future abuses.

    Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison last month after she admitted she had awarded contracts to Chicago-based Boeing in exchange for jobs for herself and family members.

    "We need to go back and find out ... whether there was anythingelse that she had influenced in an improper way," Wynne said, adding that he has asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO)to investigate protests filed by companies that lost contract bidshandled by Druyun. GAO is the investigative arm of Congress.

    Druyun joined Boeing in January 2003 as deputy general manager after retiring from the Air Force in November 2002. She was charged of discussing a job with Boeing while overseeing a 23-billion-dollar lease-purchase deal for the company to supply the Air Force with refueling tankers.

    She has also admitted helping Boeing on other contracts, including a 4-billion-dollar deal to upgrade the C-130 fleet cargoplane.

    Wynne said he is setting up an internal survey group of the Defense Contract Management Agency to determine whether Druyun violated ethical standards in the contract decisions she made during the last decade of her career at the Defense Department.

    The acting acquisition chief also said he will ask the Defense Science Board to examine how a single contracting official managedto use the defense contracting system to negatively influence so many contracts. The board will review acquisition procedures and recommend policy changes to prevent a similar scandal, he said. Enditem