Feds say imposter DHS agents who lavished gifts on Secret Service agents — including one in Jill Biden's detail — had 'arsenal' of weapons

There are new details in the case of two men charged with posing as federal agents and lavishing gifts on Secret Service agents.

The two men tricked people who were supposed to be suspicious of others into thinking they were Homeland Security agents.

He said that Secret Service agents who were swept up in the ruse thought they were members of federal law enforcement.

The prosecutor said that they don't want to be the next victims of their deception.

The two were arrested by the FBI at their apartment building in southeast Washington, DC, on charges of posing as Homeland Security officials and giving expensive gifts to law enforcement officers.

The Secret Service agents and their families received rent-free, $40,000-a-year apartments in their luxury apartment building, as well as gifts like a flat-screen TV and other electronics, according to the indictment.

He offered to buy an assault rifle for the Secret Service agent assigned to the First Lady.

The two men were accused of offering law enforcement officers access to a black SUV and rent-free apartments in an upscale building as part of a scheme that began as early as February 2020.

The Justice Department is still investigating if the pair asked for anything in return for the agents.

Four members of the Secret Service were placed on administrative leave.

They created a situation where they compromised a Secret Service agent.

The investigation is looking into how the pair funded the gift-giving spree, and whether one of the men, Ali, has ties to Pakistani intelligence. A witness in the investigation told the Justice Department that Ali claimed to have connections to Pakistani intelligence.

The prosecutor said that Ali had travel visas from Pakistan and Iran.

While Ali's claim that he had a connection to Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, had not been verified, he must be taken seriously because of the allegation that he was trying, according to a court filing.

The investigation was only two weeks old, and every day the facts get worse, according to the start of the hearing Friday.

They have an arsenal of weapons, including almost 100 rounds, and they posed for selfies in tactical gear.

If they wanted to dress up and pretend to be police officers, they did not need two firearms or other equipment.

Many law enforcement and other federal officials live in southeast Washington, DC, and prosecutors said Ali and Taherzadeh controlled five units at their apartment building. Multiple firearms, boxes of ammunition, breaching equipment, handcuffs, and brass knuckles were found when FBI agents searched the units.

A binder with a list of residents at their apartment complex was discovered along with a box of documents with profiles of individual people.

As part of their alleged scheme, prosecutors said that the two men recruited someone to be an employee of the Department of Homeland Security and that they had to be shot with a rifle to evaluate their pain tolerance.

The allegation was pointed out by Rothstein in his argument. The prosecutor said their possession of firearms and law enforcement equipment created a risk of physical harm.

The investigation began after a postal service inspector responded to the apartment of Ali and Taherzadeh in response to an assault on a letter carrier. The residents said that the two men were special agents with the Department of Homeland Security.

In an interview with the inspector, the two men identified themselves as special police officers who were involved in undercover gang-related investigations and inquiries related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The postal service inspector learned that the two men gave gifts to government officials, including access to the GMC SUV, and that they had contacts with government officials. The Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog office referred the matter to the FBI after the inspector relayed the information.

The risk of tampering with witnesses and evidence was suggested by the deletion of law-enforcement-related material from his social media.

Without fully understanding the full scope of Ali's conduct, including all of the federal employees that he may have had contact with and compromised, Ali's flight from justice could cause significant damage to our national security.

The two men must remain in jail until next Monday, when a detention hearing will be held.