Justice Dept. Indicts Men It Says Were Fronts for Pakistani Intelligence Who Donated to U.S. Politicians

By NICK SCHWELLENBACH

As POGO readers know, POGO has been following issues related to enforcement of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). Our interest is in improving enforcement of the law, so a high-profile indictment and criminal complaint involving FARA and Pakistan unveiled in the Eastern District of Virginia today caught our attention.

This story is breaking, so I'll just post some extended excerpts from the Department of Justice (DOJ) press release. The New York Times story is worth reading as well. I'm also embedding the criminal complaint filed in court down below. We'll have more detailed analysis tomorrow. Some of the issues raised in this complaint involving Pakistan echo some of the concerns we raised recently relating to Kazakhstan.

From the DOJ press release issued today:

Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a U.S. citizen and resident of Fairfax, Va., and Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a U.S. citizen and resident of Pakistan, are charged in a one-count criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia.   The complaint alleges that the defendants have conspired to: 1) act as an agent of a foreign principal without registering with the Attorney General in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); and 2) falsify, conceal, and cover up material facts they had a duty to disclose in matters within the jurisdiction of Executive Branch agencies of the U.S. government.

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“Mr. Fai is accused of a decades-long scheme with one purpose – to hide Pakistan’s involvement behind his efforts to influence the U.S. government’s position on Kashmir,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride.  “His handlers in Pakistan allegedly funneled millions through the Kashmir Center to contribute to U.S. elected officials, fund high-profile conferences, and pay for other efforts that promoted the Kashmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington.”

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According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Fai serves as the director of the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), a non-governmental organization located in Washington, D.C., that was founded in 1990 and also goes by the name “Kashmir Center.”   The KAC describes itself in educational materials as a “not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of knowledge in the United States about the struggle of the Kashmiri people for self-determination.”

The affidavit alleges that, although the KAC held itself out to be a Kashmiri organization run by Kashmiris and financed by Americans, the KAC is one of three “Kashmir Centers” that are actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).   The two other Kashmir Centers are in London, England, and Brussels, Belgium.

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According to the affidavit, Fai also set forth KAC’s projected budgetary requirements from the Pakistani government for 2009, including $100,000 for contributions to members of Congress. There is no evidence that any elected official who received financial contributions from Fai or the KAC was aware that the money originated from any part of the Pakistani government.

Nick Schwellenbach is POGO's Director of Investigations.