One of the two men accused of masquerading as sworn federal agents in a baffling years-long ruse told investigators that he had lied about his position in order to feed his own ego. That’s according to a motion filed in court Monday by Haider Ali’s defense lawyer Gregory Smith. In an interview with a postal inspector on March 16, Ali, 35, at first identified himself as “an investigator with USSP Special Investigations Unit”—a private security entity formed by alleged co-conspirator Arian Taherzadeh—claiming it was “part of DHS.” In a follow-up interview a few days later, Ali said he and Taherzadeh “do investigations for DHS,” which the agency “sends…to USSP.” Informed that this wasn’t so, the filing says Ali later texted the postal inspector and told him “he had gotten carried away and had ‘basically lied’ because he ‘just wanted to feel like I was on the same level with you guys and I have realized my mistake, that’s really stupid of me… I promise will never happen again. I’m ashamed and embarrassed for my actions.’”