Arian Taherzadeh.Photo: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
However, a judge overseeing the case reportedly expressed sharp skepticism this week that prosecutors could back up their claims.
The judge said the suspects should be released from custody until their trial. Attorneys for the two men did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In a complaint filed and unsealed last week, federal prosecutors initially alleged that the men — 36-year-old Haider Ali and 40-year-old Arian Taherzadeh — had been falsely claiming to be officers with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since February 2020.
In court documents filed this week, prosecutors for the Department of Justice laid out more details in their case, arguing that the men had secretly tried to “remove evidence of their criminal scheme from the apartment building” in which they were living.
In a memorandum filed Monday, the U.S. government argued that it had “confirmed more troubling facts” in the days since the men had been arrested, including that law enforcement had recovered “illegal high capacity magazines” while executing the search warrant at the men’s apartments.
“Because of the breakneck pace of the investigation, there are many facts that we still do not know,” the government’s memorandum states. “But the facts that we do know about the Defendants—that they lied about their identities for years, stored a cache of weapons and surveillance equipment in their apartments, compromised law enforcement agents in sensitive positions, and tried to cover up their crimes—leave no doubt that their release poses a public safety risk. Both Defendants should be detained.”
Prosecutors also argued that Ali had previouslyboasted of having ties to Pakistani intelligence.
A magistrate judge, however, wasn’t convinced, saying in a hearing on Tuesday that the charges against the men were “overblown,“CNN reports.
Judge Michael Harvey, citing Ali’s FBI interview, argued that the men “just wanted to feel on the same level” as real federal agents.
CNN reported that, in an hour-long ruling, Harvey said “there is no evidence of foreign ties in this case” and ordered both Ali and Taherzadeh to be released from jail pending trial and placed on home detention.
The men will not be allowed to go to airports or foreign embassies or to communicate with any of the federal agents they are accused of having duped.
Arian Taherzadeh.United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Prosecutors said the two men allegedly identified themselves to the inspector as members of the U.S. Special Police Investigation Unit and said they were involved in “undercover gang-related investigations” as well as investigations related the2021 U.S. Capitol riots.
The investigation grew wider when the inspector learned that Taherzadeh and Ali were in regular contact with members of the Secret Service, whom they had provided with gifts (including the use of what they claimed to be an official government vehicle: their GMC SUV), per the complaint.
As the FBI got involved, further details emerged, showing that the men had offered gifts such as rent-free apartments to actual federal agents — including several Secret Service officers. Taherzadeh had at one point also offered to provide a $2,000 rifle to a Secret Service agent on the first lady’s detail, prosecutors have claimed.
At least four members of the U.S. Secret Service had been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation, prosecutors said in court filings.
Taherzadeh and Ali were each charged with one count of false impersonation of an officer of the United States.
source: people.com
