Jon Elswick/AP
- Secret Service agents were “shocked” that a pair of DHS agents had been imposters, feds revealed.
- FBI agents found a “sniper” scope, firearms, ammo, and a “high end drone” in the pair’s DC apartments.
- One boasted ties to Pakistani intel and could pose “significant damage” to national security if released, the feds said.
Prosecutors revealed new details Friday in the case of two men charged with posing as federal agents and lavishing gifts on Secret Service agents — including that they possessed multiple firearms, a sniper-style rifle scope, and more than 100 rounds of ammunition in their luxury DC apartments.
Haider Ali and Arian Taherzadeh, now in federal custody, were so convincing in their two-year impersonation of Department of Homeland Security agents that, “they tricked people whose job it is to be suspicious of others,” assistant US attorney Josh Rothstein said during a detention hearing on Friday.
Secret Service agents who were swept up in the ruse “believed they were members of federal law enforcement and were shocked to find out that they were not,” he said.
“We don’t want to be the next victims of their deception,” the prosecutor added, saying that the investigation is still ongoing.
The FBI arrested the two Wednesday at their luxury apartment building in southeast Washington, DC, on charges they impersonated Department of Homeland Security officials and handed out expensive gifts to grow closer to law enforcement officers, including Secret Service agents.
According to an indictment unsealed Wednesday, Taherzadeh purchased gifts for Secret Service agents and their families, who allegedly accepted rent-free, $40,000-a-year apartments in their luxury apartment building, as well as other gifts like a flat-screen TV and other electronics.
He also offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent assigned to First Lady Jill Biden’s detail, the indictment states.
Prosecutors accused the two men of offering law enforcement officers access to a black GMC SUV and provided rent-free apartments in the upscale building as part of a scheme that began as early as February 2020.
Rothstein said the Justice Department is still investigating if the pair asked for anything in return from multiple Secret Service agents.
As of April 4, four members of the Secret Service were placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.
“They created a situation where they compromised a Secret Service agent,” Rothstein said Friday.
Rothstein said the ongoing investigation is delving into how the pair funded the gift-giving spree, and whether one of the men, Ali, has ties to Pakistani intelligence. A day earlier, Rothstein said the Justice Department learned from a witness in the investigation that Ali had claimed to have connections to Pakistani intelligence.
Ali also had travel visas from Pakistan and Iran, the prosecutor said, highlighting his travel in recent years to the Middle East.
While Ali’s purported connection to Pakistan’s intelligence service, ISI, had not been verified, Rothstein wrote in a court filing earlier Friday that “his claim must be taken literally and seriously” in light of the allegation that he was striving to grow close to federal officers and infiltrate law enforcement circles.
At the outset of the hearing Friday, Rothstein said the investigation was only two weeks old, and “every day, the facts get worse and worse.”
“This is not just people dressing up for Halloween, your honor,” Rothstein said of the pair, who posed for selfies in tactical gear. “This is very serious … they have an arsenal of weapons,” including “almost 100 rounds of ammunition.”
“If they wanted to dress up and pretend to be police officers, they didn’t need two firearms,” ammunition, and other equipment, Rothstein said, adding that they had a spotter scope “similar to what you would use in a sniper scenario.”
Prosecutors said Ali and Taherzadeh controlled five units at their apartment building in southeast Washington, DC, where many law enforcement and other federal officials live. In a search of the units, FBI agents found multiple firearms, boxes of ammunition, breaching equipment, handcuffs, and brass knuckles.
Also discovered was a binder with a list of residents at their apartment complex, along with a box of documents with profiles of individual people.
As part of their alleged scheme, prosecutors said Taherzadeh and Ali recruited someone to be an “employee of DHS.” In the hiring process, they required that individual to be shot with an Airsoft rifle to evaluate the recruit’s pain tolerance, according to court records.
Rothstein pointed to that allegation in arguing for the detention of Ali and Taherzadeh. The prosecutor said their possession of firearms and law enforcement equipment created “a risk of physical harm.”
According to the indictment, the investigation began in March 2022 when a postal service inspector responded to Ali and Taherzadeh’s apartment complex in response to an alleged assault on a letter carrier. Residents identified Taherzadeh and Ali as possible witnesses and said the two represented themselves as special agents with the Department of Homeland Security.
Taherzadeh and Ali both identified themselves in an interview with the inspector as “special police” officers involved undercover gang-related investigations and inquiries related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In the course of the investigation, the postal service inspector learned about Taherzadeh and Ali’s contacts with government officials and the gifts they provided to them, including access to the GMC SUV. The inspector relayed the information to the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog office, which then referred the matter to the FBI.
After the interview, Taherzadeh began deleting law-enforcement-related material from his social media, Rothstein said, suggesting that his release would create the risk of tampering with witnesses and evidence.
“Without fully understanding the full scope of Ali’s conduct, including all of the federal employees that he may have had contact with and compromised, Ali’s flight from justice could cause significant damage to our national security,” Rothstein wrote in the court filing.
The two men must remain behind bars at least until next Monday, when a detention hearing will continue before Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey.
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