‘Man posed as DHS worker, claimed ties to Pakistani intelligence’
A photograph in court documents shows what prosecutors say is Arian Taherzadeh in his apartment in Washington, D.C. (From Afffidavit In Support of Criminal Complaint and Arrest Warrants filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia-Photo credit:Washington Post)
One of two men accused of posing as federal law enforcement employees and who successfully ingratiate themselves with Secret Service agents had visas for travel to Iran and Pakistan, and told others that he had ties to Pakistan’s intelligence service, a federal prosecutor alleged Thursday, reports Washington Post today.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein said the U.S. government wanted Haider Ali and Arian Taherzadeh — who were arrested Wednesday on charges of impersonating federal law enforcement — held in jail while they await trial, alleging that they posed a flight risk and possessed firearms.
Ali, who claimed the connection to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, had three visas for travel to Pakistan and two for travel to Iran, Rothstein said. The Iran visas were from July 2019 to January 2020, the month before his charged conduct began, Rothstein alleged. The prosecutor said that it appeared that Ali entered Iran once, and that his visas to Pakistan were older.
“We have not verified the accuracy of his claims, but Mr. Ali made claims to witnesses he had ties to ISI, which is the Pakistani intelligence service,” Rothstein said.
Taherzadeh, 40, and Ali, 35, were arrested in what the government says was a ruse that started in February 2020. Federal law enforcement officials said Thursday that they were still seeking to unravel what motivated Ali and Taherzadeh toallegedlyfake having jobs with the Department of Homeland Security as they “ingratiated themselves with and infiltrated” Secret Service agents and U.S. defense personnel who lived in their D.C. apartment building. So far, the men are charged only with “false impersonation of a federal officer,” though Rothstein said Thursday that the government would probably add a charge of “conspiracy.”
In court, Rothstein said Wednesday’s search of five units in the building — including ones occupied by each defendant — recovered Glock and Sig Sauer pistols; DHS patches, vests and training manuals; binoculars; “sniper-spotting equipment”; and a binder listing the names and addresses of building occupants.
Taherzadeh provided members of the Secret Service and an employee of DHS with items such as “rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator, and law enforcement paraphernalia,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in D.C.
Associates of Ali’s who appeared outside of court Thursday declined to comment. A federal defender initially assigned to represent both men also declined to comment.
The Embassy of Pakistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source: Washington Post.
