| Advertisement |
April 8 (UPI) -- One of two men arrested for impersonating federal officers in Washington, D.C., allegedly had ties to Pakistan's intelligence services and travel visas for Iran and Pakistan. They ingratiated themselves with Secret Service agents, including one who protected First Lady Jill Biden.
Advertisement
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein asked a judge to keep Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35 jailed.
Rothstein told the court the current charges could be expanded to conspiracy, with a maximum of five years in prison.
Federal prosecutors alleged Friday that while Taherzadeh and Ali posed as Department of Homeland Security agents, they "compromised" Secret Service members with lavish gifts.
According to an FBI affidavit in the case, Taherzadeh and Ali gave Secret Service members rent-free apartment and other gifts.
The Secret Service said in a press statement that all the Secret Service personnel involved with the two men have been placed on administrative leave.
The Secret Service has not said whether any agents assigned to the First Lady's security detail are among those placed on leave.
Rothstein told the court that two months before the two men began posing as federal agents and cultivating law enforcement and federal security personnel at a D.C. apartment complex, Ali had gone to Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Qatar and Doha several times.
In a video conference hearing Thursday, prosecutors said Ali told witnesses he had connections to the Inter-Services Intelligence in Pakistan.
