WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal prosecutors on Wednesday indicted two men who they say pretend to be federal agents, give free apartments and other gifts to US secret service agents, including one who worked to protect the first lady.
The two men – Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36 – were detained, while more than a dozen FBI agents were charged with a luxury apartment building in Southeast Washington on Wednesday night.
Prosecutors say Taherzadeh and Ali falsely claim to work for the Department of Homeland Security and work in a special group to investigate gangs and violence related to the January 6 uprising in the US Capitol. They claim that the two pretended to be law enforcement officers in order to integrate with real federal agents.
Taherzade is accused of providing rent-free apartments to secret service agents and agents – including a penthouse worth more than $ 40,000 a year – along with an iPhone, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat-screen TV, a generator, a pistol case and more. police instruments, according to court documents.
He also offered to allow them to use a black GMC SUV, which he identified as an “official government vehicle”, prosecutors said. In one case, Taherzade offered to buy a $ 2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the first lady.
Prosecutors said four Secret Service employees were released earlier this week as part of an investigation.
The conspiracy unfolded when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched an investigation into an attack on a carrier carrier in an apartment building and the men identified themselves as part of a fake Homeland Security unit they called the U.S. Special Police Investigation Service.
Prosecutors say the men also set up surveillance in the building and told residents that they could access any of their mobile phones at any time. Residents also told investigators they believed the men had access to their personal information.
Taherzade and Ali are due to appear in court on Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether they had lawyers who could comment on the allegations.
Prosecutors said the investigation is ongoing.
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