Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 27 July 2017
Feds: Mayor, ex-mayor in 2 Pennsylvania cities sold favors

and fraud, according to his office swept for listening
indictments that detail how devices he believed were
the two Democrats hand- installed by law enforce-
ed lucrative city contracts ment, according to the in-
to donors who showered dictment.
them with cash and gifts. Pawlowski, the mayor of
“Pawlowski and Spencer Pennsylvania’s third-largest
essentially put a for-sale city who first took office in
sign up in front of city hall in 2006 and is now in his third
Reading and in Allentown term, denied wrongdoing
to sell their office and their at a Wednesday press con-
services to the highest bid- ference and said he will not
der,” said Acting U.S. Attor- resign.
ney Louis Lappen. “I’m disappointed about
Prosecutors allege Paw- the filing of these allega-
lowski attempted to steer tions against me.” he said,
contracts for jobs such as “But I want to make it clear
streetlight upgrades, a cy- to everyone, I have done
ber security deal and other nothing wrong.”
legal work toward those Spencer, who was elected
who gave him money Reading’s mayor in 2012,
Allentown Mayor Edwin Pawlowski speaks with members of the media outside of his home in Al- from 2012 to 2015. In total, sought to keep large sums
lentown, Pa., Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Pawlowski and the former mayor of Reading have been he accepted more than of money flowing to a re-
indicted on federal corruption charges for engaging in a series of pay-to-play schemes. $150,000 in campaign con- election campaign and
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke) tributions in exchange for is reported to have made
By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE with corruption for a series donors. the use of his office, pros- clear to donors he would
Associated Press of pay-to-play schemes Allentown Mayor Ed Paw- ecutors said. use the power of his office
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The officials likened to putting lowski and former Reading He allegedly tried to hide to punish those who didn’t
mayor of Allentown and for-sale signs on their offic- Mayor Vaughn Spencer his actions by deleting provide satisfactory cash
the former mayor of Read- es while promising political have been charged with emails between himself contributions, prosecutors
ing have been charged favors to deep-pocketed multiple counts of bribery and his donors. He also had said. q
Wasserman Schultz fires IT staffer following fraud arrest

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dem- staffer following his arrest Pakistan. the Florida lawmaker on his client was arrested at
ocratic Rep. Debbie Was- on a bank fraud charge Wasserman Schultz spokes- Tuesday. Dulles Airport on Monday.
serman Schultz has fired at a Virginia airport where man David Damron says Awan’s attorney, Chris He says Awan was cleared
an information technology he was attempting to fly to Imran Awan was fired by Gowen, confirmed that to travel and had informed
the House of his plans to
visit his family before the
scheduled trip.
The 37-year-old Awan of
Lorton, Virginia, pleaded
not guilty to one count of
bank fraud in his first ap-
pearance Tuesday in the
U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia. He
was released pursuant to
a high-intensity supervision
program, including the re-
striction that he not travel
beyond a 50-mile radius of
his home, according to the
court.
An affidavit filed with the
criminal complaint states
there is probable cause to
believe that Awan and his
wife, Hina Alvi, engaged in
a scheme to defraud Con-
gressional Federal Credit
Union based on misrepre-
sentations made to obtain
a loan.
FBI Special Agent Brandon
Merriman said in the affi-
davit that the misrepresen-
tations revolved around
written assurances that the
home serving as collateral
for the loan was a “princi-
pal residence.”q