Quick Facts
Biography
Imran Awan (born 1980) is a Pakistani-American information technology worker. He worked as a shared employee for Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the time of his arrest in July 2017, he had been working as an information technologist in Congress for 13 years. He has been involved in multiple investigations in 2017, and is currently awaiting trial on charges of bank fraud.
Biography
Awan was born in Pakistan in 1980. He won a green card for himself and his family in the green card lottery when he was 14. After emigrating to the US in 1997, Awan worked at a fast-food restaurant while attending community college, then transferred to Johns Hopkins University where he earned a degree in information technology. He became a U.S. citizen in 2004 and resided in Lorton, Virginia. Awan started working on Capitol Hill in January 2004 as an information technology director for Robert Wexler. His wife Hina Alvi, his two brothers, a sister in law, and two friends also worked as congressional information technology staffer. He provided technical support for 25 other House Democrats, working as a shared employee.
Alleged procurement scam
In March 2016, the House auditors noticed some purchases for computer equipment were broken into multiple parts below $500, and left off the House inventory. Some of this equipment was delivered to the Awan brothers' house.
On February 2, 2017, the Sergeant-at-Arms briefed top staffers for members of Congress that the U.S. Capitol Police was conducting an active criminal investigation into the actions of five IT House employees — four men and a woman — who were being investigated allegations of procurement scam and violating the House IT network rules. Subsequently, it was also revealed to the general public that there was an ongoing investigation. They were barred from the computer networks at the House of Representatives. But it was not formally said what problem led to that decision.
Later Awan, his wife, Hina Alvi, his two brothers and his friend were named as the five IT staffers being investigated. Given the suspected violations, most of the congress members terminated Awan's services, Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz from Florida, however, continued to employ Awan in an advisory role.
On March 5, 2017, the FBI and Capitol Police stopped Awan's wife, Hina Alvi, at Dulles Airport but then allowed her to get on the flight to Lahore with her three children.
Bank fraud court case
On July 24, 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and U.S. Capitol Police arrested Awan at the Washington Dulles International Airport. He had previously purchased a ticket to Lahore, Pakistan, with a return flight in January 2018. Awan was arraigned the following day and pleaded not guilty to one count of bank fraud. He was ordered to surrender his passports, abide by a curfew, and wear a GPS device. Wasserman Schultz fired Awan on July 25 after learning about his arrest.
On August 17, 2017, a federal grand jury, convened in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, indicted Awan and his wife on four counts, including conspiracy, making false statements, charges of bank fraud, and unlawful monetary transactions. They were charged with conspiring to obtain home equity loans for $165,000 and $120,000 from the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union in Oakton and transferring the money to Pakistan. In January 2017 the couple had wired $283,000 from Alvi's credit union checking account to two individuals in Faisalabad. The indictment made no mention of an investigation related to procurement theft.
On September 1, 2017, Awan pleaded not guilty to all of these charges.