It’s a story reminiscent of a spy novel. But the scandal surrounding Imran Awan has plenty of elements of the surreal and the farcical, too.

Awan was a congressional IT staffer. Numerous members of his family joined him on the congressional payroll. Now he is awaiting trial for bank fraud. What started in 2016 as an investigation into equipment and data theft has evolved into a case about falsely obtaining home equity loans and sending money to Pakistan.