WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has denied a government request to restrain two men accused of posing as federal national security agents, defrauding U.S. intelligence agents, and offering them gift and apartment in a luxury apartment in washington.
Federal prosecutors say the two men – Aryan Taherzade, 40, and Haider Ali, 35 – were fake agents and offered gifts to “please themselves” and include in law enforcement, including a policeman. To protect the First Lady.
The men were arrested last week when the FBI robbed a building in southwest Washington and charged federal officials with particularities. Prosecutors said officers searched five apartments in the building and found armor, gas masks, lightning bolts, handcuffs, door -breaking equipment, drones, radios, and police training manuals.
Prosecutors say Taherzade and Ali False allegedly worked for the Department of Homeland Security and worked on a special task force investigating gangs and violence related to the Jan. 6 uprising at the Capitol. of the US.
Taherzade has been accused by secret service agents and agents renting apartments – including a penthouse worth more than $ 40,000 a year – along with iPhones, surveillance systems, planes, TVs, generators, cases of guns and other police equipment. In court documents. In one case, prosecutors accused Taherzade of offering to buy a $ 2,000 gun from an intelligence agent with the duty of protecting the First Lady.
“They trick people whose job it is to interrogate other people and ask these questions,” Attorney Josh Rothstein said.
Rothstein revealed that the men were “unaware” that they were under investigation when a Secret Service investigator leaked information about them, forcing the FBI to act faster than expected. to arrest them.
Prosecutors said Ali was in danger of flying and did so. The witness in the case said he was linked to the Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-services Intelligence, a claim the government later said had not been confirmed. The Pakistani embassy has certainly denied the allegations, saying it “definitely denies this false claim.” They also mentioned the story of his journey and said he saw from Pakistan and Iran.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey intensively questioned prosecutors in the case in a three -day hearing. He eventually decided on Tuesday to release the men on Wednesday and put them under surveillance, which includes GPS tracking.
Harvey agreed to keep the order until Wednesday morning until the government decides whether to appeal. The judge noted that the accusation was not a violent crime and no person would face significant imprisonment if convicted. He said there were “significantly worse and more dangerous similarities”.
“However, I still find that the government has enough evidence to prosecute both defendants for the crimes they are accused of,” Harvey said.
The conspiracy began when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched an investigation into an attack on a postman in an apartment building and the men identified themselves as part of a fake internal security unit called the U.S. Police Special Investigation Unit.
Defendants were notified on April 4 after the secret services launched an investigation into four of its employees who were on leave for receiving gifts from men. As part of the internal investigation, a Secret Service investigator contacted and Taherzade responded, Rothstein told the court.
Taherzade’s lawyer Michelle Peterson said she did not intend to compromise with the agents and offered her expensive apartments and expensive gifts because she wanted to be friends with them.
He said his client had previously been cleared in Washington as an unarmed special police officer – a private guard to protect people or property – and he was also a licensed private investigator. In an extensive interview with investigators after his arrest, Taherzade made “an embarrassing misinformation that went out of control.”
“When you only have one hammer, everything looks like a nail,” Peterson said at one of the hearings. “They jumped on the wildest conspiracy theories, which are unthinkable because of the scant evidence.”
The two men also had surveillance equipment and a high-powered telescope, prosecutors said. The FBI found evidence that they may have made surveillance devices and also found a binder containing information on everyone living in the luxury condominium where law enforcement, defense officers, and Congressional personnel live.
Prosecutors said the men also monitored the building and told residents they could access any cell phone at any time. Residents also told investigators they believe the men had access to their personal information.
The FBI also found several firearms, including shotguns and ammunition, and removed parts of rifles and sniper rifles, Rothstein said.
Ali’s lawyer Greg Smith said his client was unaware that Taherzade had lied about his connection to internal security and genuinely believed he was working on behalf of the government. He said his client was a naturalized US citizen and had no chance to get a Pakistani passport.
Source: Huffpost
