Posted on 09/12/2017 8:59:42 AM PDT by wtd
Congress IT staffers, Imran Awan and his wife, Hina Alvi, were indicted for fraud on August 17, 2017, in the DNC scandal. Federal authorities suspect that sensitive U.S. Government data, possibly classified information, may have been compromised or even sold to hostile foreign governments. Awans lawyer, Chris Gowen, stated that his client had no classified clearance for anything. Therein lies the problem. How can a computer IT staffer without appropriate clearances have access to sensitive and classified data?
Separately, in the massive lottery fraud case, Eddie Tipton, a computer specialist and a former information security director at the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), masterminded a scheme to rig lottery games. Over time, Tipton made more than $2 million from this scam. He secretly installed malicious software that allowed him to pick winning numbers and hit jackpots in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. How could this insider illicitly benefit from the blatant breach of his fiduciary responsibility?
As hacks and cyber security continue to grow as a concern across globally connected digital networks, it is important to consider the weak links lurking inside the nodes (companies, various entities) attached to the networks. These weak links include IT employees, third party contractors and computer specialists who have unchecked access to the sensitive information of such companies and entities.
The saga of the IT staffing/Awan family fraud started as a scandal involving the alleged theft of computer equipment from Congress. It has since evolved into a national security probe by the FBI. Federal authorities are investigating whether sensitive U.S. government data was stolen from congressional offices and sold to foreign agencies.
For more than a decade, Awan, his wife and his brothers Abid and Jamal worked as shared IT administrators for nearly 30 members of the U.S. Congress. They did not have security clearances, yet they had administrative access to sensitive information, emails and computer files of members of Congress and their staffers, including three members of the House Intelligence Committee and five members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Awan family billed Congress almost $5 million between 2004 and 2016. While still working as IT staffers for Congress, in November 2009, the family started a full-time car dealership in Virginia, with Abid Awan responsible for day-to-day operations. The dealership was called Cars International A, LLC, otherwise also referred to as CIA. Despite the earnings from IT services to Congress, Abid Awan declared bankruptcy in December 2010 by claiming losses of $1 million in the automobile business.
By February 2016, Capitol Hill Police began an investigation and quietly alerted the concerned members of Congress that there might be a problem. The authorities blocked the Awans from accessing the House computer network, and most Congress members stopped using their services thereafter.
The Awans allegedly removed hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment from congressional offices, including computers and servers. Simultaneously they were running a procurement scheme in which they supplied equipment and overcharged the House administrative office. It is also alleged that the Awans obtained unauthorized access to the House of Representatives computer databases.
This case underscores a breakdown in the hiring and vetting process. The Awan family had a history of debt and bankruptcy. Abids records include multiple offenses for driving under the influence. His rap sheet included a DWI a month before he was hired as an IT staffer. The Awans had access to the IT systems of thirty-one members of Congress, including some with sensitive positions on the House Intelligence Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. These IT staffers had unrestricted entry to the house computer network and in-turn to sensitive classified information, without the necessary security clearance.
Former lottery computer programmer Eddie Tipton, right, is taken into custody after his sentencing hearing, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa. Judge Brad McCall sentenced Tipton to up to 25 years in prison for rigging a computer program to enable him to pick winning numbers in several lottery games over six years. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
For a decade, Eddie Tipton, the mastermind of the lottery scam, worked at the central Iowa office of MUSL, a government-benefit, and a non-profit organization. MUSL is operated by the 33 member lotteries, including multi-jurisdictional lottery games, such as Mega Millions and Powerball.
Tipton worked with a team of technicians entrusted to develop and maintain computer programs which are used to generate random numbers for the most popular lottery games in the U.S. He secretly added two extra routines to the computer code, thus enabling him to pick the winning numbers. As a trusted employee, he was promoted to the head of information security in 2013. Ironically, who would have known his new role placed him in charge of protecting the very computer systems that he had been rigging.
Over the years, Tipton provided the illicit winning numbers to others, who used them to win jackpots, and in turn received kick back as a share of the winnings. Investigators linked Tipton, his brother, Tommy, and a longtime friend, Robert Rhodes, to suspicious jackpot winnings in four states.
In December 2010, the jackpot-winning ticket for the Hot Lotto jackpot was purchased near MUSL headquarters. On behalf of a Belize trust, an attorney from New York state attempted to claim the jackpot of $14.3 million. However, later the trust decided not to pursue the claim to hide the identity of the primary purchaser. The Iowa lottery officials became suspicious of this mysterious attempt to claim the mega lotto prize. Based on the convenience store's video footage, the authorities determined that Tipton was the primary purchaser of the winning ticket, and in January 2015, he was arrested. In March 2015, his friend, Robert Rhodes, from Texas, was also arrested.
On August 22, 2017, Tipton was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He told the judge, I certainly regret my actions. Its difficult saying that with all the people behind me that Ive hurt. I regret it, and Im sorry. District Judge Bradley McCall sentenced Tipton to the maximum penalty and stated that he is a very intelligent and gifted man who chose an illegal path largely out of greed.
These cases highlight a serious security breach issue. In the dynamic and growing digital world, massive amounts of data are being created, stored and processed globally by a multitude of entities: private corporations, government and non-governmental agencies and individuals. The computer professionals with administrative access to such data are a weak link in the system.
Brad Ulrich from Quandary Peak Research states, It is often challenging for senior management to fully vet the IT professionals. Technical audits by external independent entities can give management the comfort of knowing that policies and systems are being followed.
IT professionals and computer programmers, who hold the key to the digital vault, require stringent vetting, security clearance, and ongoing forensic monitoring. Institutions with sensitive digital information such as law enforcement, various branches of the government and financial institutions must implement robust compliance and governance procedures to mitigate risks and breach related to employee opportunism.
In this new data driven world, we need to guard against the digital gate-keepers who choose to abuse the fiduciary trust.
According to one comment in this morning's video update by George Webb, Laurel Everly lost her job soon after going public about her personal interactions with her landlord, Imran Awan (aka Alex)
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Also note:
Another Awan property was recently sold. The house which US Marine, Andre Taggart had briefly rented at 9667 Hawkshead Dr., the deed was transferred from Hina R. Alvi on 8/04/17 for $617,000 Fairfax County records show. Deed & Page #19953-0993
This is assuming the Democrats weren’t fully aware and fully involved.
I think the Democrats were fully aware and fully involved in this.
As for the lottery guy.....
My Dad taught me when I was a kid that,
“If there’s big money involved, someone is going to find a way to cheat.”
Ping - article and post #1
MEET THE MUSLIM CONGRESSMAN W/ A STRANGLEHOLD ON AMERICA'S SAFETY AND SECURITY----how did Andre Carson get on several major Congressional intel committees?
Rep Andre Carson (Dem-Indiana) is a member of (A) the House Intelligence and (B) House Homeland Security Committees. Carson is also ranking member of the (C) House intelligence subcommittee on Emerging Threats, which oversees the (D) Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The subcommittee oversight extends to the (E) National Counterterrorism Center and (F) information-sharing programs. (The first elected Muslim---Cong Keith Ellison---is co-chair of the DNC.)
Rep Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat----is the second Muslim elected to Congress-----and the first Muslim on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Carson sits on several high level security committees: (A) the House Intelligence, and, (B) House Homeland Security Committees. Carson is also (C) ranking member of the House intelligence subcommittee on Emerging Threats, which oversees (D) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The subcommittee oversight extends to (E) the National Counterterrorism Center and information-sharing programs.
Carson employed Imran and is buddy-buddy w/ the Pakis. Eye-witnesses report Carson and Imran---a tax-paid US govt employee---passed the time away playing video games in Carson's Congressional office.
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(hat tip niccolo) To get these important committee appointments, Andre Carson has to be bringing in serious money for Democrats-----monies required by the DNC.
These high-level committee appointments are positions for sale. Every appointment has a dollar amount attached to it that Members desiring the positions are required to raise.
Taxpayers demand to know if Carson is channeling Islamicist cash directly into the DNC.
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More shockingly, the monies required are not just for their own appointments. Reporter Sharyl Attkisson exposed Congressional fundraising corruption: how members "buy" top spots on powerful committees.
Former Congressman Zach Wamp, relates his experience receiving a call from a sitting lawmaker, asking for "a donation toward the $325,000 dollars hes obligated to pay the NRCC every year."
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UPDATE---Democrat Carson employed Imran for IT work. Imran was overheard teaching Carson a foreign language.
Eye-witnesses reported Imran---a high-paid US govt employee---passed the workday away playing video games alongside Carson in Carson's Congressional office. One astute FReeper noted that it is possible to pass intel through video games.
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(HAT TIP DANIEL GREENFIELD) Carson is the ranking member on its Emerging Threats Subcommittee. (He is also a member of the Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture Subcommittee.)
NOTO BENE--The Emerging Threats Subcommittee, of which Carson is a ranking member, is responsible for much of counterterrorism oversight. It is the worst possible place for a man with Carsons credentials.
BACKSTORY Carson had inherited his grandmothers Congressional seat and exploited it to promote a radical Islamist agenda. He has interfaced with a laundry list of Islamist groups from CAIR to ISNA to ICNA to MPAC. Islamists have funded Carsons career to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.
The Center for Security Policy has put together a dossier of Carsons connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is the parent organization of many key Islamic terror groups posing a threat to our national security including Al Qaeda and Hamas.
Andre Carson shared the stage at a CAIR banquet with Sirraj Wahaj: an unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing who had once declared, You dont get involved in politics because its the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam. CAIR itself had been named an unindicted co-conspirator in terror finance.
Carson had praised Tariq Ramadan who had been barred from this country for funding Islamic terrorists. And the Muslim politician was a co-sponsor of the Free Syria Act which attempted to aid Islamist Jihadists in Syria linked to the Muslim Brotherhood such as the Free Syrian Army.
The presence of Andre Carson on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Emerging Threats Subcommittee has always been extremely controversial. But this latest breach involving Democrats on this committee and on other key national security committees raises serious questions about the scale and magnitude of the real problem caused by a compromised congress.
Carson and other HPSCI Democrats brazenly demanded security clearance for their office staffers, as the Awan Pakis working for them appear to have compromised security to an unknown degree.
(A) Why were the Awan brothers, one w/ a criminal record, even allowed to work in such a sensitive position? (B) How did the personnel suspected in this case pass background checks? (C) And was any classified information compromised as a result of these alleged breaches?
These questions and more must be asked and answered. But they are only the first of many questions.--SNIP--
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HERE'S A PEEK AT JUST ONE DEMOCRAT INVOLVED IN A 120,000 TAX DOLLAR TECH SCAM---The Daily Caller reported Awan's employer, NY Democrat Yvette Clarke, "wrote-off" a $120,000 purchase of tech devices that would have bought an astounding 10 iPhones and 10 iPads for each of her 16 employees. This also represented a significant slice of Democrat Clarke's office budget.
REALITY CHECK Democrat Clarke (or her staff) would have had to sign an official govt voucher for each tech purchase.
Democrat Yvette Clarke apparently didn't notice? (A) that her office purchased 120,000 tax dollars of tech equipment? (B) in quantities her 16-man office did not plausibly need? (C) that never actually materialized in her office? (b/c the 120,000 tax dollars worth of tech equipment had been delivered to Imran's residence).
The tech equipment scam was facilitated by falsifying procurement forms w/ a Hill tech supplier of govt issue-equipment.
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Up to 80 Hill Democrats employing the Pakis have NOT yet been audited for similar patterns. The numbers could skyrocket.
CHECK THE PAPER TRAIL---HOW MANY DEMOCRATS HAD "WRITE-OFFS" of tech equipment delivered to Imran's residence?
Was there a theft scheme being conducted inside the Democrat Congressional Caucus involving the DNC?
*
PING
Check out article and comments # 1 through # 6.
Thanks, Tilted Irish Kilt.
http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=94412
Scroll to Lou Dobbs video. Pray Karma has come to the RATs.
I've noted over the years that the big lottery winners seem to mostly be in RAT controlled areas.
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The Awans are thieves. They worked scams to rip off their employers. Why would they not also work the far more lucrative project of selling the information they had access to? They most certainly did just that. Thieves do not limit their thievery to one category. They take advantage of whatever opportunities they meet.
Nancy’s actions in regards to the Moslem members is a pretty damned strong indication that she is, in fact, a spy for Islam. I am not willing to ascribe ignorance to her. No one says these things or mostly even thinks these things but over and over in history these things go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Thanks for the ping!
Did Carson and Pelosi agree to a quid pro quo in the arrangement?
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REFERENCE (hat tip niccolo)---To get these important committee appointments, Andre Carson has to be bringing in serious money for Democrats-----monies required by the DNC. These high-level committee appointments are "positions for sale." Every committee appointment has a dollar amount attached to it that----even moreso for committees w/ access to ntl security data.
House members desiring these elite positions are required to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the DNC.
Hey, big bro!
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