A Democratic aide who is the center of a major security breach investigation has fled the United States for Pakistan, where it is believed she has significant protection through family money and assets in the region, according to reports.
Hina Alvi and her husband Imran Awan, who also worked as an IT staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives, were brought under investigation in February after accusations that they had been stealing computer equipment and using it to commit large-scale security breaches.
However, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), for whom Hina Alvi worked as IT support staffer, did not believe that either she or her husband were guilty before they fled.
He told Politico in March that, “[a]s of right now, I don’t see a smoking gun. I have seen no evidence that they were doing anything that was nefarious.”
He also told reporters earlier that he believed in letting the justice system take its course. “I wanted to be sure individuals are not being singled out because of their nationalities or their religion. We want to make sure everybody is entitled to due process. They had provided great service for me. And there were certain times in which they had permission by me, if it was Hina or someone else, to access some of my data.”
But something shifted when the couple withdrew their children from local schools in Northern Virginia and listed their long-time homes for sale.
Brothers of Awan, who also worked as IT support staffers, have too fled to Pakistan, where sources say they are treated like VIPs, consorting with politicians and traveling by police motorcade, which raises many questions as to why fairly middle class IT workers would be receiving such treatment.
Their suspect behavior overseas only further enforces the notion that Alvi and her husband fled prosecution of criminal wrongdoing.
To date, U.S. Capitol police have refused to release a statement on the status of the ongoing investigation.
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