Lyft Allowed Driver With Terrorism Aide Conviction

CHICAGO, IL -- The ride share company Lyft has issued an apology after WGN Investigates tracked down a man with ties to terrorism driving for the company. Raja L. Khan recently served seven years after being convicted of aiding terrorism. Before his conviction, Khan spent 30 years driving for a Chicago cab company, but was unable to get his license reinstated by the city.

Khan was also denied by the ride share company Uber. Lyft, however, accepted his request.

"They should check my background before they give me the job. That's their problem, not my problem. I don't want to go on welfare. I'm a hard worker. I want to earn my money and feed my family," Khan told WGN.

In a statement, Lyft said it "immediately deactivated" Khan and that he should not have been approved by their independent background check provider. The company called the approval "unacceptable."

"We believe this is an isolated incident, and are re-running background checks for Chicago drivers," the company said.

Lyft said it's working closely with city officials and will voluntarily allow the city to audit its background checks at Lyft's expense.

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