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Friday, April 8, 2022
US: Man impersonated agent, claimed ties to Pakistani intel
By MICHAEL BALSAMO
One of two men accused of impersonating federal agents and giving actual Secret Service agents gifts and free apartments in Washington has claimed to have ties to Pakistani intelligence and had visas showing travel to Pakistan and Iran, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The men, Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, were arrested Wednesday. The FBI raided a luxury apartment building in Southeast Washington, where the men were staying and had been offering free apartments and other gifts to U.S. Secret Service agents and officers.
During a court appearance Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein said Ali had told witnesses that he was affiliated with the Inter-Services Intelligence agency in Pakistan and that he had multiple visas from Pakistan and Iran in the months before prosecutors believe the men began impersonating U.S. law enforcement officials. Rothstein said the U.S. has not yet been able to verify the veracity of Ali’s claims to the witnesses.
Prosecutors believe the men were trying to “ingratiate themselves” and “integrate” with U.S. federal agents and people who worked in the U.S. defense community, Rothstein said.
The FBI searched five residences at the building on Wednesday and three vehicles. They found body armor, gas masks, zip ties, handcuffs, equipment to break through doors, drones, radios and police training manuals, Rothstein said.
The two men also had surveillance equipment and a high-power telescope, he said. The FBI found evidence that they may have been creating surveillance devices and also found a binder with information on all the residents in the luxury apartment building, which is home to law enforcement officers, defense officials and congressional staffers.
Prosecutors say the men had also set up surveillance in the building and had been telling residents there that they could access any of their cellphones at any time. The residents also told investigators they believed the men had access to their personal information.
The FBI also found several firearms — including handguns and ammunition — and disassembled rifle pieces and sniper scopes, Rothstein said.
Prosecutors allege Taherzadeh and Ali had falsely claimed to work for the Department of Homeland Security and work on a special task force investigating gangs and violence connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Taherzadeh is accused of providing Secret Service officers and agents with rent-free apartments — including a penthouse worth over $40,000 a year — along with iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a television, a generator, a gun case and other policing tools, according to court documents. In one instance, Taherzadeh offered to purchase a $2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent who is assigned to protect the first lady, prosecutors said.
The plot unraveled when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began investigating an assault involving a mail carrier at the apartment building and the men identified themselves as being part of a phony Homeland Security unit they called the U.S. Special Police Investigation Unit.
Investigators believe Ali had taken multiple trips to the Middle East and had three visas showing he had been to Pakistan and two Iranian visas, Rothstein said. U.S. travel records also showed he had traveled to Istanbul, Turkey and Doha in Qatar, he said.
Prosecutors allege one of the men also tried to destroy evidence once he learned he was being investigated. After Taherzadeh found out the FBI was starting to investigate him, he took steps to delete posts on social media and admitted that he had deleted the posts that would’ve been evidence in the case against him, Rothstein said.
A lawyer for Taherzadeh and Ali argued that both men should not be detained. But Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey ordered both men held until a detention hearing can be held on Friday afternoon.
Rothstein said the case was being presented to a grand jury and he expected both men to face federal conspiracy charges.
https://apnews.com/article/us-secret-service-iran-middle-east-pakistan-b51b54e1f65ef33321acdbf036d0968f
Islamabad High Court’s decision to declare PECA amendment ordinance unconstitutional is the victory of the constitution
Pakistan Peoples Party has expressed pleasure and welcomed the decision of the Islamabad High Court to null and void the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) amendment ordinance. Central Information Secretary of PPP-P and member of the National Assembly Shazia Atta Marri has said that Pakistan Peoples Party has warmly welcomed and expressed its pleasure in the Islamabad High Court’s decision to declare the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act amendment ordinance unconstitutional and she termed it, the victory of the constitution of Pakistan.
This she expressed in a statement issued hereon today. Shazia Marri said that we congratulate the entire nation and the journalist community of the country over this constitutional victory. Islamabad Court’s decision regarding the rejection of the PECA ordinance is an immense pleasure to all of us because selected Imran Khan Niazi wanted to snatch the freedom of the expression of the common man like the dictators of the past.
Ms. Marri said that Pakistan Peoples Party had already rejected the draconian black law of PECA, today, Islamabad High Court has taken a constitutional step by declaring the PECA amendment ordinance as an unconstitutional move.
She added that Imran Khan’s government has turned the President's House into the center of conspiracies.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/26784/