A Metropolitan Police patrol car is parked in front of A Luxury Apartment Building in Southeast Washington, Thursday, April 7, 2022. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men posing as federal agents, giving free apartments and other gifts to the US Secret Service. Agents, including a first lady working on a security detail.
Highlight
- 1 in 2 accused of impersonating federal agents claimed to have links with Pakistani intelligence
- Federal prosecutors said yesterday, he had visas showing travel to Pakistan and Iran
- The men, Ariane Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, were arrested on Wednesday
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that one of two men charged with impersonating federal agents and giving gifts and free apartments to real Secret Service agents in Washington claimed links to Pakistani intelligence and showed travel to Pakistan and Iran. Had visas.
The men, Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, were arrested on Wednesday (April 6). The FBI raided a luxury apartment building in southeast Washington where the men were living and was offering free apartments and other gifts to US Secret Service agents and officers.
During a court appearance on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein said Ali had told witnesses he was affiliated with the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency in Pakistan and that prosecutors believed the men had entered the U.S. . Law Enforcement Officer. Rothstein said the US has yet to verify the veracity of Ali’s witnesses’ claims.
Prosecutors believe the men were trying to “integrate themselves” and “integrate” with US federal agents and people working in the US defense community, Rothstein said.
The FBI searched five residences and three vehicles in the building on Wednesday. Rothstein said he found body armor, gas masks, zip ties, handcuffs, tools to break through doors, drones, radios and police training manuals.
He said the two men also had surveillance equipment and a high-powered telescope. The FBI found evidence they were manufacturing surveillance equipment and also found a binder with information about all residents in the luxury apartment building, which is home to law enforcement officers, defense officials and Congressional employees.
Prosecutors say the men had also set up surveillance in the building and were telling residents there that they could use any of their cell phones at any time. Residents also told investigators that they believed the men had access to their personal information.
Rothstein said the FBI also found several firearms—including handguns and ammunition—and rifle fragments and sniper scopes.
Prosecutors allege that Tehrzadeh and Ali falsely claimed to have worked for the Department of Homeland Security and served on a special task force investigating gangs and violence linked to the January 6 uprising in the US Capitol.
Tahrzadeh is accused of providing rent-free apartments to Secret Service officers and agents—including a penthouse worth more than $40,000 a year—as well as iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a television, a generator, a Gun case and other police equipment. for court documents. In one instance, Tehrzadeh offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the first lady, prosecutors said.
The plot was uncovered when the US Postal Inspection Service launched an investigation into an attack involving a mail carrier in an apartment building and the men purportedly themselves to be part of a fake Homeland Security unit they called the US Special Police Investigation Unit.
Investigators believe Ali had made multiple trips to the Middle East and had three visas that showed he was from Pakistan and two Iranian visas, Rothstein said. He said US travel records also show that he had traveled to Istanbul, Turkey and Doha in Qatar.
Prosecutors alleged that one of the men even tried to destroy evidence when he learned he was being investigated. Rothstein said Tehrzadeh learned that the FBI was opening an investigation into him, took steps to remove posts on social media and acknowledged that he had removed posts that would be evidence in the case against him.
Tehrzadeh and Ali’s lawyer argued that both men should not be detained. But Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey ordered the two men to be kept until a custodial hearing on Friday afternoon.
Rothstein said the case is being presented before a grand jury and he expects both men to face federal conspiracy charges.
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