US: 2 posed as agents, gave gifts to Secret Service officers

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged two males they are saying have been posing as federal brokers, giving free flats and different items to U.S. Secret Service brokers, together with one who labored on the primary girl’s safety element.

The 2 males – Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36 – have been taken into custody as greater than a dozen FBI brokers charged right into a luxurious condo constructing in Southeast Washington on Wednesday night.

Prosecutors allege Taherzadeh and Ali had falsely claimed to work for the Division of Homeland Safety and work on a particular job drive investigating gang and violence related to the Jan. 6 rebellion on the U.S. Capitol. They allege the 2 posed as regulation enforcement officers to combine with precise federal brokers.

Taherzadeh is accused of offering Secret Service officers and brokers with rent-free flats – together with a penthouse value over $40,000 a yr – together with iPhones, surveillance techniques, a drone, flat display tv, a generator, gun case and different policing instruments, in keeping with court docket paperwork.

He additionally supplied to allow them to use a black GMC SUV that he recognized as an “official authorities car,” prosecutors say. In a single occasion, Taherzadeh supplied to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent who’s assigned to guard the primary girl.

Prosecutors stated 4 Secret Service staff have been positioned on go away earlier this week as a part of the investigation.

The plot unraveled when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service started investigating an assault involving a mail service on the condo constructing and the lads recognized themselves as being a part of a phony Homeland Safety unit they referred to as the U.S. Particular Police Investigation Unit.

Prosecutors say the lads had additionally arrange surveillance within the constructing and had been telling residents there that they might entry any of their cellphones at any time. The residents additionally advised investigators they believed the lads had entry to their private data.

Taherzadeh and Ali are scheduled to seem in court docket on Thursday. It was not instantly clear if they’d attorneys who might touch upon the allegations.

Authorities didn’t element what, if something, the lads have been aiming to perform by posing as regulation enforcement officers or by offering the items. Prosecutors stated the investigation stays ongoing.