patrick.net

A federal grand jury has broadened the criminal indictment against Imran Awan, a former House Democratic IT staffer who was charged with bank fraud last month as he tried to leave the United States for Pakistan.

Awan's wife, Hina Alvi, has also been indicted, although she and the couple's three children are already in Pakistan, according to FBI officials.

The new charges against Awan and Alvi include conspiracy to commit bank fraud; false statements on a loan or credit application; unlawful monetary transactions; and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions.

Awan was still on the payroll for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) until he was indicted last month. Awan, a longtime IT staffer who worked for more than two dozen House Democrats, has been at the center of an ongoing criminal probe on Capitol Hill related to alleged procurement theft. Several of his family members, also former House IT staffers, have been implicated in the ongoing investigation.

Awan and Alvi allegedly obtained $285,000 in home equity loans from the Congressional Federal Credit Union on two residential properties in Virginia, according to the indictment. The couple then transferred nearly all of those funds — $283,000 — to individuals in Faisalabad, Pakistan, the indictment states. They repaid one loan, but failed to repay $165,000 from another loan.

It is a violation of the credit union’s policies to provide home equity loans in rental properties since it is not the owner’s primary residence.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/17/new-charges-house-it-aide-241756