According to a recent report by Fox News, Imran Awan, the former IT aide for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) as well as more than 30 House Democrats, has entered a plea of not guilty in response to federal charges of bank fraud and conspiracy.
During the hearing Awan’s attorney, Chris Gowen, a former aide to Hillary and Bill Clinton, asked that the court remove the GPS monitoring bracelet from his client, claiming his client may need to attend to an emergency with his children in Pakistan.
However, Awan’s wife was not present in court, as she and her children were allowed to flee to Pakistan in March after being stopped by Capitol Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Dulles International Airport.
According to the Daily Caller, during a press conference held outside of the courthouse, Gowen admitted that the children are in Pakistan, but refused to explain the discrepancy.
Awan’s attorneys further asked for other restrictions on his movement to be lifted, claiming that he has been driving for crowdsourced taxi service Uber. However, Uber has no record of any driver matching Awan on their systems.
The prosecution opposed this motion, claiming that Awan is a severe flight risk, and that his wife has no intention to return to the United States.
Last month, after attempting to wire $283,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union to bank accounts in Pakistan, Awan was arrested by FBI agents before he was able to board a flight to Pakistan at Dulles Airport.
The arrest came just days after it was reported that FBI agents had seized smashed computer hard drives from Imran Awan’s residence. Awan and his wife Hina Alvi, were subsequently indicted by a grand jury on four counts of bank fraud and making false statements on August 17.
After entering his plea of not guilty, Awan will not return to court until his scheduled status hearing on October 16.
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