PAYING UP

Accused DHS Fraudster Had Over $1 Million in Debts Before Arrest

Arian Taherzadeh was once sued by the man he was arrested with for allegedly duping Secret Service agents earlier this month.

A Reuters investigation found that Arian Taherzadeh—who was arrested earlier this month along with Haider Ali for allegedly pretending to be a Homeland Security agent and duping the Secret Service—held more than $1 million in debts for various defunct companies. The list of collectors was sprawling: sports companies, financial institutions, county governments, apartment and office complexes, and a D.J. company, among many others. Even Ali had tried to sue him for $150,000 in 2017 for unpaid wages and for failing to repay a $1 million loan. When those cases were brought to court, Taherzadeh often didn’t show up, leading to default judgments against him that still went unpaid. Taherzadeh told Reuters that the records were being taken out of context, though he couldn’t elaborate further. “Everybody’s an opportunist right now,” he said.