Ho, hum, just another Democrat scandal

The name Imran Awan has appeared in the local newspaper just twice since his arrest at Dulles Airport on July 24 while attempting to board a flight to his native Pakistan to rejoin his wife and the hundreds of thousands of dollars he had wired there — suspected to have been the proceeds of bank fraud.

It took awhile for Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman Schultz to get around to firing him from his IT job. According to Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel, Awan has worked for Democrats on the Hill for more than a decade, along with his wife, two brothers and a sister-in-law. His 20-year-old brother was reportedly paid $160,000 for a no-show job. The family reportedly has netted nearly $5 million from taxpayers.

The family, which had computer access to the highest levels of Democratic leadership in Washington,  has been accused of bankruptcy fraud, life-insurance fraud, tax fraud and extortion.

Strassel reported:

The most recent FBI affidavit accuses Imran Awan of defrauding the Congressional Federal Credit Union by lying about the use of his rental properties to get a $165,000 home-equity loan—which he immediately wrapped into a $283,000 wire transfer to Pakistan. At one point, when the credit union asked Mr. Awan (who was pretending to be his wife on the phone) why he wanted to send money to Pakistan, he replied, “funeral arrangements.”

Told this was not an acceptable reason, Mr. Awan went to “look online for an acceptable reason” and responded “buying property.” The bright bulbs at the credit union approved the transfer. His wife was already in Pakistan. The FBI stopped her at the airport in March, and despite finding $12,400 in undeclared cash (in excess of the legal limit), they let her go. Seriously.

No Russians to see here. Move along.

Debbie Wassermann Schultz (AP pix via WSJ)