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Two men in Washington D.C. were taken into custody by federal authorities for impersonating Department of Homeland Security agents and claiming to investigate the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol among other charges.
According to reports, Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, were arrested and taken into custody by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents inside their luxury apartment in a neighborhood in Southeast Washington D.C. on Wednesday (April 6th). Federal prosecutors assigned to the case state that the two posed as agents with the Department of Homeland Security as well as members of a special task force that is conducting investigations into gangs and violence related to the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Taherzadeh is accused of giving Secret Service agents apartments that were rent-free which included a penthouse that was estimated to be worth $40,000 a year in rent. This was in addition to providing iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, flat-screen television, a generator, gun case and other policing tools to them as well according to the filing with the court.
The fraudulent feds were found out when the United States Postal Inspection Service began an investigation into an assault on a mail carrier that took place at the apartment building. The two identified themselves as being part of a phony Homeland Security unit they called the U.S. Special Police Investigation Unit to officers with the service, which raised suspicion.
According to the U.S. Secret Service, they are working closely with DHS and the Department of Justice along with other federal law enforcement entities. “All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems,” they said in a statement to the press when contacted. Four Secret Service employees were placed on leave earlier in the week in conjunction with the investigation, said prosecutors.
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