2 Men Posing as Federal Agents Duped Secret Service, U.S. Says

Jon Elswick/Associated Press

2 Men Posing as Federal Agents Duped Secret Service, U.S. Says

NY Times -April 7th 2022

Two men masquerading as Department of Homeland Security officers in Washington duped several members of the Secret Service, providing them with tens of thousands of dollars in gifts, including rent-free apartments, federal prosecutors said. One of the men told several people that he had connections to Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, prosecutors said in federal court on Thursday.

Four members of the Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting the president and the president’s family, have been placed on administrative leave while the case is being investigated, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in the District of Columbia.

One of the men, Arian Taherzadeh, offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for an agent assigned to Jill Biden’s protective detail, according to the affidavit, which was filed Tuesday.

Mr. Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, were charged with one count of false impersonation of an officer of the United States, the affidavit said.

Both men appeared by videoconference on Thursday at a hearing in federal court in Washington, where prosecutors said that Mr. Ali had told witnesses that he had connections to the Inter-Services Intelligence in Pakistan. Mr. Ali also held several visas that had been issued by Pakistan and Iran, prosecutors said.

The F.B.I. arrested the men, both of whom are U.S. citizens, on Wednesday in Southeast Washington. The two-year scheme began in February 2020 and unraveled recently, the affidavit said.

“Taherzadeh and Ali have attempted to use their false and fraudulent affiliation with D.H.S. to ingratiate themselves with members of federal law enforcement and the defense community,” David Elias, an F.B.I. special agent, wrote in the affidavit.

Mr. Elias did not say why the men carried out the impersonation. Federal prosecutors declined to give a motive or provide further information about the two men.