Two men indicted by grand jury for impersonating federal agents in Washington DC

A grand jury indicted two individuals on accusations of impersonating a federal agent in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, both of Washington, D.C., were detained on April 6 for allegedly posing as federal agents and delivering free apartments and other gifts to U.S. Secret Service personnel, one of whom worked in First Lady Jill Biden’s security detail.

More than a dozen federal agents stormed into a posh apartment building in Southeast DC on Wednesday evening.

Officials said the couple fraudulently claimed to work for the Department of Homeland Security and to be part of a special task team investigating gang and violence linked to the Jan. 6 insurgency at the United States Capitol.

Both were charged with one count of impersonating a United States official. Taherzadeh was charged with illegal possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding system on two counts.

Ali was also charged with unauthorized possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding system.

According to court documents, Taherzadeh is accused of providing Secret Service officers and agents with rent-free apartments, including a penthouse worth more than $40,000 per year, as well as iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, flat-screen television, a generator, gun case, and other policing tools.

Prosecutors claim he also offered to let them drive a black GMC SUV that he labeled as an “official government vehicle.” In one case, Taherzadeh offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the first lady.

Four Secret Service employees were placed on leave earlier this week as part of the inquiry, according to prosecutors.