Florida Republican Asks Attorney General to Look Into Former House IT Aide’s Finances
Mark Tapscott /
A House Republican from Florida this week urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to determine whether any U.S. financial institutions have reported suspicious banking activity by a former information technology aide to a Florida Democrat who until last year headed the national party.
Imran Awan; his wife, Hina Alvi; his brothers; and his best friend are all former IT aides to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and dozens of other House Democrats.
The five are suspects in a probe by the FBI and U.S. Capitol Police into allegations they compromised the House’s IT network by abusing access to it and also stole government computer equipment.
In a letter to Sessions, Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s national security subcommittee, asks about the criminal investigation of Awan and the possible use of a special Treasury Department unit.
“Given the alarming amount of funds that were wired to Pakistan, has the Department of Justice utilized the … Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to investigate the financial records of Awan and Alvi to discover evidence of other potential crimes?” DeSantis asks in the letter, released by his office.
“Have any U.S. financial institutions filed reports of suspicious activity on any bank account held by Awan or his wife?” he adds. “Is the Department of Justice investigating whether any funds generated from the sale of stolen property of the House of Representatives were included as part of the wire transfer to Faisalabad, Pakistan?”
“Finally, will the [Justice] Department seek a court order freezing the proceeds of any real estate transaction or from the sale of stolen technological equipment?”
>>> Wasserman Schultz Apparently Planned to Pay House IT Suspect in Pakistan
Wasserman Schultz resigned last summer as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
The FBI arrested Awan on July 25 at Dulles International Airport as he tried to flee the U.S.
He and the four others had access to emails and office files of the House members who shared their services as IT aides. Collectively, the group was paid $4 million for its work between 2009 and 2016.
Some members who hired them also sit on House intelligence, foreign affairs, and homeland security committees.
The wire transfer DeSantis mentions was close to $300,000 and made by Awan just before he tried to board a flight from Dulles to Pakistan. Alvi and the couple’s three children were allowed to board a March flight after a search of their baggage found more than $12,000 in cash, according to court documents filed by the FBI following Awan’s arrest.
Some officials are concerned that Awan may have transferred more money to Pakistan because he was trying to sell several houses he owned in Northern Virginia.
“The allegations levied against Imran Awan are alarming and could have serious national security ramifications,” DeSantis said in a statement accompanying the release of his letter to Sessions.
“The Department of Justice must work to immediately mitigate the damage done by Awan and take whatever measures are necessary, including freezing illicit funds, in order to fully investigate this incident.”
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