WASHINGTON–A former IT worker for the House of Representatives who has been accused of data theft by some conservative news outlets and whose case gained national headlines has pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of making false statements on a loan application to his credit union.
As CUToday.info reported here, Imran Awan, 38, was arrested in the summer of 2017 as he attempted to board a flight to his native Pakistan. Awan was arrested at Dulles International Airport after buying a ticket to Pakistan with a return flight set for January of 2018, according to authorities. He had been arraigned on charges of bank fraud for allegedly attempting to get a loan from the Congressional Federal Credit Union on a rental property by claiming it as his primary residence.
Awan's wife, Hina Alvi, flew to Pakistan in March of this year with the couple's three children. The federal court complaint said the children had been abruptly taken out of school in Virginia and that an examination of her luggage found she was carrying $12,400 in cash. Hina Alvi was allowed to leave for Pakistan.
Since his arrest Awan has been at the center of a beehive of allegations and rumor that he and several associates had conspired to steal hardware, data and perhaps even Democratic National Committee emails published by WikiLeaks, noted the New York Times.
President Trump tweeted claims that a media cover-up of an alleged “Democrat IT scandal” and referred to Awan as a “Pakistani mystery man.” Awan had worked for more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers since 2004, including Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Wasserman Schultz had defended Awan after the Capitol Police started looking into allegations by unnamed House lawmakers that Mr. Awan had executed some sort of fraud.
Conspiracy Theories Batted Down
But in the plea agreement federal prosecutors deflated the conspiracy theories and rumors, saying they had talked to approximately 40 people as part of the investigation and had also examined the House Democratic Caucus server and other data and devices, reviewed electronic communications and interviewed Mr. Awan on numerous occasions.
“They found no evidence that Mr. Awan had engaged in illegal conduct involving House computer systems,” the New York Times reported.
Instead, Awan has admitted that in December 2016 in the name of his wife applied to Congressional Federal Credit Union for a home equity line of credit on a property that she owned in Alexandria, Va. In January 2017, the credit union approved a line of credit for $165,000.
An attorney for Awan said his client was seeking to provide funds to his father, who has been ill and who lives in Pakistan. Awan will be sentenced Aug. 21 and under federal guidelines, he faces a likely range of zero to six months in prison.