knapplc Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 This is a bonkers story. It's just unfolding, and there's a lot we don't know yet. Two men allegedly impersonated federal agents to get access to Secret Service Two men have been arrested for allegedly impersonating federal agents over the course of several years. The FBI alleges that Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, have been pretending to be various officers and employees of the U.S. government, including members of federal law enforcement agencies, since February 2020. The two allegedly obtained paraphernalia, handguns and assault rifles used by federal law enforcement agencies. The FBI claims they used their false associations with the U.S. government "to ingratiate themselves with members of federal law enforcement and the defense community." Taherzadeh, pretending to be a member of the Department of Homeland Security, provided U.S. Secret Service members and a DHS employee with rent-free apartments, "iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator, and law enforcement paraphernalia," FBI Special Agent David Elias wrote in an affidavit. In one instance, Taherzadeh allegedly offered to buy a gun for a Secret Service agent assigned to the first lady's protective detail. Four Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave amid the ongoing investigation. The two were discovered on March 14, when the U.S. Postal Inspector responded to a D.C. apartment building for a report of an assault involving a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier. Taherzadeh and Ali told authorities they were members of a DHS police force, and that they were involved in undercover gang-related probes, and also investigating last year's riot at the U.S. Capitol. Other residents in the building said the two — who held several apartments in the building that they said were "being paid for by DHS" — had access to residents' surveillance cameras, cell phones and other personal information. Authorities later learned that many of the buildings' residents were in the FBI, Secret Service and DHS. Others were members of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy. One person who lived in the building who was not employed by federal law enforcement, identified in the affidavit as "Witness 1," told Elias that Taherzadeh carried a concealed firearm, had a DHS Investigations (HSI) "casefile" marked "confidential," and presented the witness with a badge and other credentials to prove he was in law enforcement. According to the affidavit, Taherzadeh told Witness 1 that as part of the "HSI recruiting process" he would shoot the witness with an air rifle to evaluate their "reaction and pain tolerance." The witness agreed and Taherzadeh shot them. Ali was present during the shooting. In July 2021, Taherzadeh and Ali met "Witness 2," a Secret Service agent, according to the FBI. Taherzadeh told the agent about his job with the HSI, and sent the agent several photos of himself in his "police tactical gear" and of HSI training, the latter of which turned out to be a stock image found on the internet, the FBI said. Taherzadeh also loaned the agent's wife what he claimed was a "government vehicle," offered to buy the agent a weapon and gave the agent a gun holder. Ellias alleges the agent still has the holder. An FBI affidavit filed in federal court includes photos Arian Taherzadeh sent a witness in the case, showing Taherzadeh with police gear in his apartment, including cases often used to carry firearms.U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE The agent, who lived in the same building, confirmed Taherzadeh had access to security cameras in the building, and that he was carrying a firearm, the FBI said. Another Secret Service agent, identified as "Witness 3," lived in a penthouse in the apartment building provided by Taherzadeh rent-free from February 2021 until January 2022. The agent said he received emails from what he thought was Taherzadeh's DHS email, but investigators found it was a fake account. "Witness 4" is a document analysis expert with the DHS-HSI and lived in the same building as well. Witness 4 talked to her supervisors but could not confirm that Taherzadeh worked for the DHS, which Taherzadeh explained by telling her he was undercover, according to the FBI. Witness 4 told the FBI that she saw "a significant amount of law enforcement paraphernalia, including SWAT vests, a large safe, computers, a high-powered telescope and internal surveillance cameras in his apartment." The fourth U.S. Secret Service agent in the affidavit, identified as "Witness 5," was assigned to protect the White House. The agent lived in an apartment, again provided by Taherzadeh, rent-free from February 2021 to January 2022 after Taherzadeh allegedly told Witness 5 the "HSI had approved extra rooms as part of his operations," which officials say was not true. 1 2 Link to comment
VectorVictor Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 This is a particularly scary story...especially when you factor in the number of right-wing extremists that have been openly talking about revolution. 1 Link to comment
knapplc Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 This gets weirder and weirder. Link to comment
knapplc Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 This story is fascinating. Lots of people doing lots of digging. Here's an unrolled thread from the twitter. Sorry it's janky - she put a lot of pics and stuff in it, and the unroller app gets messy sometimes. If you want to read it in its native format, it starts here: I FOUND SOME REALLY WEIRD SH*T in relation to these Arian Taherzadeh, one of the men posing as a Homeland Security Officer and trying to infiltrate the Secret Service. Ready? US: 2 posed as agents, gave gifts to Secret Service officers | AP News US: 2 posed as agents, gave gifts to Secret Service officersWASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men they say were posing as federal agents, giving free apartments and other gifts to U.S. Secret Service agents, including one who worke…https://apnews.com/article/us-secret-service-956062f32e02854112b7c52794d202b2 Prior to 2018, this guy mainly had what looks like investment companies/holding companies etc…None if the stuff looks legitimate—no websites, and the revenues all appear self-reported. This is when sh-t gets weird. In 2018, it appears this guy became interested in the Secret Service, CIA, and FBI, and was asking really weird questions about the weapons they used etc… Then he registered an LLC called the United States Special Police, LLC. Wut!?!? Then he created a fake LinkedIn profile saying he works for Homeland Security… I’m going to do some more digging. I’ll be back… It seems he had an interest in knowing if the Secret Service could, would, has ever gone on strike!?! And then the REALLY CREEPY question about the gun weapon used to protect the VP. Wtf is happening? This was 3 years ago,so I’m not sure if it it’s necessarily part of a plot, but still weird. Then I found some answers he gave to other Quora questions..but that he ultimately deleted. He’s listing expertise like “certified firearms instructor,” and NATO officer… So, that’s all I found. My gut instinct when I read the AP article, was that this guy is a fantasist with a trust fund. It’s real scary that he was successful in infiltrating the Secret Service, but I’m not so sure it’s part of a bigger plot. These guys seemed like clowns Telling people in their apartment building that they can tap into their phones and access their data? What kind of a covert operator would do that? And then telling a Postal Inspector that he’s part of a “Secret Police Force”? Why? There was absolutely no benefit, only risk in doing something like that. It was what ultimately got him caught too. Still, it’s really scary that he got as far as he did, and I hope I’m right, that these guys were just dorks who wanted to play Hames Bond? So, I found his parents and I’m not seeing where that money came from!?! Holy sh*t. Can’t find anything on Ali, so maybe he’s the $$$ man? Or, it’s a foreign government—Ali might be Pakistani and Taherzadeh is Iranian. Here are some pictures. “Sitting in class.” Good grief. The media just corrected Ali’s name to Sher-Ali. Now I think I may have found some stuff that puts everything I thought I knew into question. Here he is… Here’s what I think may be his Twitter. I’m not sure that this means anything at all, but compared to Taherzadeh, who doesn’t seem political, religious, or to have any affinity to Iran (his mom is European), Sher-Ali tweets a lot about about religion, and some pride for Pakistan Of course, that doesn’t mean anything necessarily, but it puts a different perspective on one of the players in this duo—the one I believe to be the $$ man. End for now… They also DUPED the apartment manager. They never paid for any of the units. Wow. • • • Link to comment
Moiraine Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 11 hours ago, VectorVictor said: This is a particularly scary story...especially when you factor in the number of right-wing extremists that have been openly talking about revolution. I've noticed there is some amoeba out there who laugh reacts at anyone who suggests there is a single right-wing person on earth who is extreme. It's quite lame. 5 Link to comment
VectorVictor Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 On 4/7/2022 at 10:50 PM, Moiraine said: I've noticed there is some amoeba out there who laugh reacts at anyone who suggests there is a single right-wing person on earth who is extreme. It's quite lame. These are the same mentally ill people that support the Jan 6 domestic terrorists and openly hope for violence against Biden. It’s beyond lame. 4 Link to comment
knapplc Posted April 18, 2022 Author Share Posted April 18, 2022 So... these guys appear to be more grifters and military/police/federal agent fanboys than anything. What a weird, weird story. Go read the story. These guys have a history of bad debt, and have even sued each other (a bit). Secret Service on the defensive over allegations agents were duped by men impersonating feds 1 Link to comment
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