BURNED

Man Pleads Guilty to Posing as Federal Agent, Courting Secret Service’s Favor

Arian Taherzadeh and a co-defendant attempted to “ingratiate themselves” with law enforcement, lavishing gifts worth more than $90,000 on Secret Service staffers.

One of two men accused of posing as Homeland Security agents in a scheme to “ingratiate themselves” with the law enforcement and defense community, including the Secret Service, pleaded guilty on Monday. Arian Taherzadeh, 40, admitted he’d created a private security firm called the United States Special Police and used it to masquerade as, at different points, a Homeland Security agent, a U.S. air marshal, and a U.S. Army ranger. The gambit, prosecutors said, began in 2018 and continued until this April, when Taherzadeh was arrested alongside his co-defendant, Haider Ali. Before being caught, the pair lavished the Secret Service with gifts valued at more than $90,000, according to prosecutors, including rent-free apartments. Taherzadeh, who pleaded guilty to one federal conspiracy charge and two violations of D.C. law, was attempting to entice people to sign up with the U.S. Special Police, according to the Justice Department, as well as defraud the owners of three luxury apartment buildings.