 Life is good all this month at Appalachian Wireless. Get the LG G5 for just one penny with sign-up or renewal of a two-year service agreement. That's almost a hundred dollars off the regular price. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless. Could you tell us when the alarm was sounded that security had been breached and how long the probation office looked for him before it notified the FBI? I can say that first off we are looking for Eric Christopher Kahn. We need him to face justice for defrauding the U.S. taxpayer of more than $550 million in a Social Security fraud scheme. So anyone who has ever paid taxes, who has paid into the Social Security program should take that pretty personally. That he has now fled justice after having fled guilty on March 24th for his role in that scheme. It's a one count of theft of government money and another count of payment of gratuities. He was scheduled to be sentenced next month, but instead on Friday evening he removed his GPS monitoring device or his ankle bracelet which was found along I-75 in Lexington. The next day a warrant was issued for his arrest and we began ardently looking for him as we are today. We issued a press release initially and today I'm announcing a $20,000 reward for his location that leads to his arrest so that he can return to Kentucky and face justice. As you go through we're looking for little detail in terms of where on I-75 and when that was found and how you guys get how you I mean walk us through the process if I know on the states I have that might work but when a guy cuts off his bracelet in the federal system I'm assuming there's a monitor somewhere a monitor it's an alarm and then you guys get a notify ultimately I'm trying to figure out how that process sure can you say when the alarm was sounded and who looked for him first and for how long it was a first off again it was Friday evening Friday night and that's as specific as I'm getting on that the US probation office we are working very closely with because they are responsible I clearly I for his monitoring they would have gotten and they would have gotten the notice correct and so once that happened no we were notified I and together we began I again are looking for him this case of course was investigated also with the Inspector General's offices from the Social Security Administration Health and Human Services and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division as well as probation I I do not have that information I know we were notified very quickly it was Friday evening and I don't have the exact time I don't it was a long I-75 can you say why other agencies have been notified and asked for assistance like customs yes yes we of course immediately entered the information into NCIC so all law enforcement agencies were notified as soon as that happened in addition we immediately sent out a press release the following day so that went up it went out on our Twitter account I and I and then in addition I basically clearly got some attention on the news and we wanted to continue to get attention on the news because we need anybody who may have seen Eric Kahn to let us know they need to call our office 502-263-6000 call the FBI call local law enforcement it's 502-263-6000 if you have any information about Eric Kahn's whereabouts we have and we are actively following up on a number of leads right now we hope that with the additional incentive of a $20,000 reward at this point I will add to that number of leads even more we we have information right now we believe he is still in the country but we're not sure how long that will be and so we want to try to actively look for him as quickly as possible I'm one brick real clear man he's my love folks my ad in eastern Kentucky are you certain that he ran rather than was kidnapped and put in a strip got it we have no information to indicate that there was any nefarious activity involved in I and mr. Kahn's I fling it appears that he did so by his own will we don't have information at this point about that that would support that I have no information that indicates someone supported him yet I'm not rolling it out can you speak to how important it is to bring him to justice because like bill alluded to he heard a lot of people in eastern Kentucky and a lot of people he was one month away from seeing justice for receiving his sentence and now that justice has been delayed can you speak to how important it is from the FBI's perspective to now bring it back assuming to face new charges on top of what he was already looking at yeah I will tell you that for me personally this is one of the most important things we're doing in this office today I is we need Eric Khan to face justice we need him to come back and be accountable for his actions in defaulting not only the government the US taxpayer and everybody every citizen of this state who has paid into Social Security who is a US taxpayer who he defrauded in some way he needs to be held accountable for that he pled guilty I and admitted his guilt in that scheme but yet he chose to leave before actually serving his sentence and for that it makes it one of the most important things I think we have gone today to try to bring him back to justice to the extent it might help and I know there's gonna be a lot you're not able to say this one I respect that I've covered federal agencies for 30 years now but are you at liberty to say anything about what you think he did I mean is he has yet they're hitchhiking on high 64 somewhere do we need to be looking on the road is he walking across country to an airport that you know I mean any idea about what he's what he did we took off we don't have all the information at this point we're actively pursuing leads regarding that I however as I said I right now it appears that he fled by his own free will that he chose to do so he knew what he was doing and he is actively pursuing fleeing justice at this time that's something we're looking at as well correct we're seeing every angle that we can possibly take here to try to not only hold him accountable but anyone who is supporting him who is helping him flee who is helping him avoid justice we want to pursue those angles to it hold those people accountable to I don't have information on where he was living at the time I'm sure we do I just don't personally have it with me and and I cannot speak as to who has been cooperating who hasn't at this point correct that is correct and put his house up for $1.25 million special agent Trotman testified a great length about why he was playing risk are you guys mad at the message for allowing be released clearly a decision was made to release him on bond he was placed under house arrest he was a given ankle GPS monitoring and he posted his house on that 1.25 million dollar cash bond but I'm not going to speak as to the decision for those of us who've never had wear ankle bracelet I mean it's just a device around right I mean it can fit it would have to be physically cut off with a knife or some implement some tool correct that is correct any details about how the thing was found I just thrown out because I'm assuming they can still track it even when it's cut off they know where to go find it it depends on whether or not the the transmission from the device was deactivated I don't have that information yeah correct I don't have this I don't have that information at this point that was found on I believe it was found on Friday evening yes because it was again that was when the notification came into the US probation office and you know in the federal system that it's actually monitored by private company that's usually the case but I can't speak specifically in this matter yeah say that again Mr. Khan have to be present for his sentencing in the fraud case I guess how would this escape effect that sentencing I mean you can sentence in absentia but I in this particular case clearly we would like to have him here for to clearly be held accountable for that before that sentencing would to take place so more than likely if this continues then we may see a continuance of that and he's facing a lot of judgments and restrictions and things like that is there any recourse for the government to recover any of that money in Mr. Khan's absence for lack of a better word there is but I also want to make it clear that we were pursuing forfeiture proceedings I all along in this case so we were already actively pursuing forfeiture of his law firm and a portion of his residence as part of this investigation so that didn't happen just after this occurrence that was happening all along but in addition to that yes pursuing any other means that he might have had or used to to flee and escape justice I don't think we are actively pursuing that but I would have to look into it escape would be a separate charge potentially when he's called yes it could be yes and it depends on obviously how it's charged or what other crimes he may commit while he is I is obviously on my question is there a crime other than is there a charge other than escape all he's out there running around I guess the liquor store that's but I mean is there something other than escape that would be charged in the federal code so yeah the fact that we yes he could be charged well in addition to the escape of course whatever he might do in interstate transportation that would also potentially bring in additional charges yes yes it is this is a again a very significant case and the fact that more than 550 million dollars was involved in this fraud scheme and so I con himself admitted that he received more than five point seven million dollars I in in fees from the Social Security Administration that is a substantial amount of money and makes it one of the largest cases that we have seen or investigated when it comes to this type of fraud we're actively pursuing all leads but I can't comment on any particular indications we have whether he has transferred money overseas or not yet I mean it's kind of weird because it's a white collar right compared to the store you know that type of thing I guess all of you would be considered arm separate our view is though that even this even though this is a white collar crime matter is clearly he has made an act of desperation he is desperate to escape punishment and be held accountable for his crime and desperate people do desperate things so I would say that people should approach him certainly with caution if they know where he is we implore them to call law enforcement call the FBI call whoever in your community is the nearest law enforcement official and let's get him in handcuffs so we can bring him back have you one of the agencies are working with us Marshall yeah of course I all along we were working with the Social Security Administration Health and Human Services I internal revenue service the Department of Justice and of course US probation now with with the escape in addition to that of course a notification to all law enforcement and and of course we have also notified the US Marshall service you know they're actively I mean how do you guys out there doing are they actively looking for where I right now mainly right right now it's primarily the FBI has taken the lead in the future of investigation to be able to actively locate and bring him back to justice right now I am redirecting resources from other squads and resident agencies in order to assist we have only two folks who are assigned to the two agents who are signed to the Pikeville resident agency including the case agent and of course he's a little busy with trial this week against Mr. Atkins and so as a result I we need we need additional assistance and I have redirected resources to assist in this matter okay thank you