Debbie Wasserman Schultz Tech Staffer Arrested Trying To Flee Country
Image by Getty Images
A technology worker in Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s office was arrested at the airport on Tuesday, as he attempted to flee the country to Pakistan, amid a bank fraud investigation.
The feds nabbed Imran Awan at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. as he prepared to board a flight to Lahore, Pakistan, reported Politico. Charged in federal court, he’s accused of defrauding the Congressional Federal Credit Union of $165,000 by lying to obtain a home equity loan and then wiring the funds to his native Pakistan.
His wife Hina Alvi already left for Pakistan, and prosecutors said they expected her to stay there. The couple both worked for almost two dozen Democratic legislators as information technology specialists, though Wasserman Schultz fired Awan on Tuesday.
Awan’s attorney denounced the charges as a right-wing plot to take down his client. “This is clearly a right-wing media-driven prosecution by a United States Attorney’s Office that wants to prosecute people for working while Muslim,” Chris Gowen told Politico.
Wasserman Schultz resigned as Democratic National Committee chair last year amid allegations that she favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the primaries.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
