Stash of assault rifles, body armor, passports with multiple visas, and sham uniforms found in ‘fake’ Homeland agents’ DC penthouse when they were arrested for ‘infiltrating Biden, Kamala and Jill’s Secret Service details’
- A motion for detention shows two men impersonating federal agents had a slew of damning evidence in their apartments, including images showing several different passports and IDs
- ‘They are not law enforcement agents, and they are not involved in sanctioned covert activities,’ the motion for detention filed Friday claims. ‘Neither Defendant is even employed by the United States government’
- ‘But their impersonation scheme was sufficiently realistic to convince other government employees, including law enforcement agents, of their false identities,’ the memorandum added.
- At least two Secret Service agents assigned to Biden and Harris’ protective detail were caught up in the scheme by two men posing as DHS agents
- One agent receiving free rent, sources say, was regularly stationed at VP Kamala Harris’ residence at One Observatory Circle at the Naval Observatory
- Another who was often seen partying with the two men is on the presidential protective detail
- At least four Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave
- Haider Sher-Ali, 35, and Arian Taherzadeh, 40, were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security
- The duo claimed to be involved in an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack
- Agents with the FBI, NCIS and USPIS swarmed several floors and units of luxury apartment building Crossing DC in southeast Washington, D.C.
- A former representative of Crossing DC who worked at the building since the start of Taherzadeh’s lease confirmed that none of the units were being paid for
- When asked why they were not paying rent on the units, the individual responded with one word: ‘Government’
- According to sources, the Tishman Speyer-owned building cooperated with Taherzadeh and Ali believing the guise that they were federal agents
- Building management, the sources allege, provided the duo with access to surveillance cameras and codes to access all doors in the building
A motion for detention of the two men who were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents includes a slew of damning evidence, including images showing several different passports, visas and IDs.
The prosecutors are requesting Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 35, be detained due to a slew of evidence found in a raid of their units in a luxury apartment building in southeast Washington, D.C.
‘They are not law enforcement agents, and they are not involved in sanctioned covert activities,’ the motion for detention filed Friday claims. ‘Neither Defendant is even employed by the United States government.’
Taherzadeh told law enforcement in an interview after being taken into custody on Wednesday that Ali was the one funding their lavish lifestyle and seemingly endless stream of gifts, but claimed he wasn’t aware where the money was coming from.
The question remains, however, on what Ali and Taherzadeh’s motives were in getting close to people with White House access by impersonating government agents.
Ali, according to Taherzadeh, was also the one able to gain access codes and a list of tenants in the Crossing DC apartment complex – owned by upscale real estate firm Tishman Speyer.
‘With respect to Ali, Taherzadeh stated that Ali had obtained the electronic access codes and a list of all of the tenants in the apartment complex,’ the memorandum notes. ‘Taherzadeh further stated that Ali was the individual that funded most of their day-to-day operation but Taherzadeh did not know the source of the funds.’
Just after the interaction with a Postal Inspector in March, which eventually led to the duo’s arrest, Taherzadeh said that he started deleting law enforcement material from his social media.
Images from the raid Wednesday of a unit on the 7th floor where Taherzadeh was residing allegedly for free showed agents recovered ‘three current copies of Taherzadeh’s Washington D.C. driver’s license, passport, United States Special Police – Special Investigations Unit business cards, a USSP police badge, and several identification and credit cards.’
‘In addition, law enforcement recovered the business card of a USSS Agent referenced in the complaint affidavit,’ the motion added.
Secret Service agents assigned to details for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence are among those being investigated for accepting lavish gifts and partying with Taherzadeh and Ali, who alleged they were agents with the Department of Homeland Security.
At least one of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents receiving free rent from Taherzadeh and Ali was assigned to the detail protecting Harris’ residence at Number One Observatory Circle at the Naval Observatory, sources at the building told DailyMail.com.
Another, sources claim, was on the presidential protective detail and regularly traveled with President Biden on Air Force One.
Images from the raid Wednesday of a unit on the 7th floor where Arian Taherzadeh was residing allegedly for free showed agents recovered ‘three current copies of Taherzadeh’s Washington D.C. driver’s license, passport, United States Special Police – Special Investigations Unit business cards, a USSP police badge, and several identification and credit cards’
A memorandum supproting a motion for detention of Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 35, shows that the men had a slew of garb in their luxury DC apartment units, including fradulent police garb
Two passports and multiple visas from Ali show that he has traveled to Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Iran and Turkey
Images also show a slew of firearms, including rifles, that were stashed around the units
The new information comes after an affidavit released Wednesday revealed that one of the witnesses in the case is a secret service agent that worked on First Lady Jill Biden’s protective detail.
During an arraignment Thursday afternoon, details emerged that there could be connections between Ali and the Pakistani Intelligence Service.
Two of his passports were found during a raid of his unit on the 6th floor of Crossing DC.
‘Ali’s expired passport contained several visas authorizing foreign travel,’ the Friday memorandum notes. ‘For instance, this passport contained two visas authorizing travel from the Islamic Republic of Iran.’
‘The Government has identified at least four entry/exit stamps from Mashhad International Airport in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran.’
It goes on: ‘In addition, the Ali’s passport contained two thirty-day visas from Pakistan and one visa for travel to Egypt.’
Images of these visas and passports corroborate the claims made in the memorandum for detention of Taherzadeh and Ali.
Customs and Border Protection records show that Ali traveled through Doha, Qatar in November 2016, May 2019 and July 2019. He also went through there in October 2019 and returned from Istanbul, Turkey.
Firearms recovered from unit 708, where Taherzadeh had a three bedroom unit supposedly for free
Taherzadeh validated in an interview with law enforcement that the claim in the affidavit from one witness that ‘he did in fact shoot someone, identified in the complaint as Witness 1, with an Airsoft gun’ during a ‘recruitment’ process to his fake agency to test the individuals reaction and pain tolerance. Pictured is a number of airsoft ammunition recovered from Taherzadeh’s apartment
The two men arrested in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday who attempted to cozy up to Secret Service agents could face conspiracy charges after spending their year-and-a-half living in a luxury apartment building allegedly posing as federal agents.
A regional manager for Tishman Speyer, the owners of the building where Taherzadeh and Ali’s apartments were raided on Wednesday, had set up a meeting to speak with DailyMail.com on Friday morning – but the individual pulled out at the last minute.
Just a mile from the Capitol and three miles from the White House, Taherzadeh and Ali were conducting an operation where they posed as agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – tricking a luxury DC apartment building and its high profile residents as well as appearing to convince Metro Police Department that they were working for the government.
The government request for detention notes that following Taherzadeh’s arrest Wednesday, he voluntarily interviewed with law enforcement.
‘During he (sic) course of this interview, Taherzadeh admitted, among other things, that: (1) he had falsely identified himself as a member of the Department of Homeland Security; (2) he had falsely identified himself as a former United States Army Ranger.
He also admitted to interviewers that a Sig Sauer 229 found in the raid belonged to him and was in his possession, but said that while the Glock 19 firearm was in his possession, it belonged to Ali.
The memo goes on to note Taherzadeh admitted: ‘[H]e offered to provide a USSS agent with an assault rifle; he provided free apartments to two USSS agents for approximately one year; he had provided a ‘doomsday bag,’ generator, flat screen television, two iPhones, a drone, a gun locker, a Pelican case, and a mattress to agents and officers of the USSS.’
Taherzadeh also validated the claim in the affidavit from one of the witnesses that ‘he did in fact shoot someone, identified in the complaint as Witness 1, with an Airsoft gun’ during a ‘recruitment’ process to his fake agency to test the individuals reaction and pain tolerance.
The two are said in the affidavit released Wednesday to have successfully ingratiated themselves with Secret Service agents, at least two of whom were reportedly given rent-free in penthouse and multiple-bedroom luxury apartments as well as high-end electronics and policing equipment.
The free rent in several units – valued at a minimum of $40,000 per year for just one of the penthouse apartments – was apparently not paid for at all.
A former representative of Crossing DC who worked at the building since the start of Taherzadeh’s lease confirmed that none of the units were being paid for at any time. When asked why they were not paying rent on the units, the individual responded with one word: ‘Government’.
Haider Sher-Ali, 36, (left) and Arian Taherzadeh, 40, (right) were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security claiming to be involved in an investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack
Taherzadeh will be held until his 3:30 p.m. detention hearing on Friday after an arraignment on Thursday afternoon revealed there could be connections between Ali and the Pakistani Intelligence Service.
Both Pakistani and Iranian visas were found during the search Wednesday, according to prosecutors, and there will likely be a conspiracy charge.
Potential crimes, according to a Magistrate judge, involves possession and use of a firearm and the destruction of potential evidence after learning an investigation was underway.
Among the firearms being kept in the unit occupied by Taherzadeh, sources claim, were a Glock 19 .9mm with high capacity magazines, a fully automatic suppressed M4-style rifle, an AR pistol and a Sig Sauer handgun. He also showed some residents training weapons, including the airsoft gun used to ‘test’ so-called ‘recruits’ on their reaction and pain tolerance.
Among other items found was a binder with information on residents in Crossing DC, which includes many real federal agents, those working for the White House and congressional aides and advisors.
Agents with the FBI, NCIS and USPIS swarmed several floors and units of a luxury apartment building in southeast Washington, D.C.
Taherzadeh (right) and Ali (not pictured) spent a year-and-a-half of residency hanging out with residents and cozying up to people working for government – including at lest four Secret Service agents. Pictured: Ali at Crossing DC’s rooftop pool with other residents and guests
One of the Secret Service agents accused of getting gifts from Taherzdeh and Ali worked on First Lady Jill Biden’s security detail, according to the affidavit. That agent, as well as three others, have been placed on leave as an investigation continues. Pictured: First Lady Jill Biden speaks during a commissioning ceremony on April 2
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had no comment on the matter during her Thursday press briefing, telling reporters: ‘I don’t have any comment from here. I’d point you to the Secret Service and others investigating.’
During their time living at the building in the Navy Yard neighborhood of D.C., Ali and Taherzadeh spent months wining and dining government workers and contractors, cooking them filet mignon and salmon and inviting them over for beers and hookah in order to work their way into the inner circle.
Management office staff for Crossing DC did not respond to DailyMail.com for a request for comment.
In early 2021, Metro Police did a search of Taherzadeh’s unit when a person from a surrounding apartment building made a call reporting a sighting of firearms in his 3-bedroom corner unit through an open window.
Video footage viewed by DailyMail.com showed members of the Metro Police Department and United States Capitol Police searching Taherzadeh’s apartment on the 7th floor. They saw firearms in plain sight that are illegal to own in the District of Columbia, but were provided with credentials that seemed to convince them that Taherzadeh was an agent permitted to own such weapons.
MPD told DailyMail.com that the issue has been moved to the FBI and did not provide further statement.
A member of building management, Kelly Cianciola, sent a statement to Crossing DC tenants around 11:30 a.m. Thursday claiming that the 4:00 p.m. raid came after search warrants were presented to front desk staff due to an FBI investigation.
‘The building staff fully cooperated with the investigation, while doing our best to minimize disruption to our residents,’ the statement, obtained and read by DailyMail.com, reads. ‘The FBI concluded its search overnight and is no longer on the premises.’
Taherzadeh went on a trip to Nashville with some residents of the building
Arian Taherzadeh, 40, was one of two men arrested Wednesday for allegedly impersonating Department of Homeland Security officers to infiltrate the Secret Service. He and Haider Ali, 36, allegedly showered the Secret Service officers with gifts
Units on at least the 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th and Penthouse levels were raided and carefully combed through by agents with the FBI, NCIS and United States Postal Inspection Service. It is not clear if NCIS and USPIS are still on premises.
Taherzadeh and Ali stand accused of impersonating federal agents and were arraigned in court Thursday afternoon.
Fake websites helped them corroborate their claims to residents that they were members of the ‘special police’ and the two stand accused of attempting to con an unnamed ‘applicant’ to join their Homeland Security task force they invented.
The recruitment process included shooting the applicant with an airsoft rifle to supposedly evaluate their pain tolerance, the affidavit lays out and sources confirmed. The individual being ‘recruited’ was instructed to research an unnamed person who worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.
According to sources, the Tishman Speyer-owned and operated building cooperated with Taherzadeh and Ali believing the guise that they were federal agents. Building management, the sources allege, provided the duo with access to surveillance cameras, including codes to access all doors in the building and a list of personal information about a number of residents.
A former security guard for the building, however, said that an overnight concierge would call down Ali and Taherzadeh when things happened in the building to show them surveillance footage.
Ali and Taherzadeh provided the all-access door code to several residents, another source confirms.
The luxury building has at all times a front desk concierge and security guard stationed in the building. The company contracted for the front desk staff is from Classic Concierge and security is provided by Allied Universal, which also staffs some government and corporate buildings.
Crossing DC upper management refused to speak out further on the matter and are not responding to media or tenant requests for more information. Questions regarding why Taherzadeh and Ali were given access to security cameras, door codes and personal information of residents are still going unanswered – and the potential level of complacency of Tishman Speyer’s residential property staff is still unknown.
Neither the FBI nor other police or law enforcement have alleged wrongdoing by Tishman Speyer, Crossing DC or Allied Universal – the building’s contracted security.
FBI personnel were seen entering the Crossings Apartments in southeast DC on Wednesday
Residents were told in an email obtained by DailyMail.com on Thursday that FBI agents were no longer on the premises. Pictured: Federal officials entered both Taherzadeh and Ali’s apartments and began combing through their belongings
A separate unit, leased by Taherzadeh, was raided by U.S. Postal Inspector agents. The case against Taherzadeh and Ali stemmed from a USPIS probe into an alleged assault on a USPS letter carrier that happened in the building, which the impersonators witnessed
The two men’s motive for the scheme has yet to emerge, with an investigation into their behavior ongoing
Access to residents’ personal identifiable information, like full names and workplaces, allowed Taherzadeh and Ali to target who to get close with – this included at least four members of the United States Secret Service and those working for other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security.
Four members of the agency, which includes a member of the first lady’s security detail, have been placed on leave. Their identities have still not been revealed, but, according to other tenants, at least two have moved from the building in the last few months.
U.S. Secret Service Media Relations released a statement Thursday morning on the connection of the impersonators and their agents, claiming they have and continue to work with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.
‘All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems,’ the statement reads.
‘The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain in active coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.’
Residents of the 800-unit building went nearly 20 hours without an update from building management following images of a slew of federal agents occupying the lobby and halls since Wednesday afternoon.
As of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening, other occupants of the unit where Ali lives were allowed back in – including at least one woman and a few young children.
A Quora account with the name Ari Taherzadeh shows several posts from two and three years ago talking about firearms and what weapons are used by Secret Service detail to protect members of the executive.
‘What is the typical weapon the Secret Service carries when providing close protection for the vice president?’ one question on the profile asks.
An answer posted by the account listed to ‘Ari Taherzadeh’ responded with a detailed description of the firearms used by Secret Service agents, claiming: ‘Since 1999, the current standard sidearm issued to Secret Service agents has been the Sig Sauer P229 DAK chambered in the .357 Sig round.’
Source: Daily Mail UK