Pakistani 'agents' charged in US with Kashmir scam

US justice officials charged two alleged Pakistani "agents" Tuesday over a decades-long effort to illegally funnel millions of dollars to push the Kashmiri cause in Washington. "Foreign governments who try to influence the United States by using unregistered agents threaten our national security," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James McJunkin in a written statement. The Justice Department announced conspiracy charges against Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a US citizen and resident of Fairfax, Virginia and Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a US citizen and resident of Pakistan, and said both faced up to five years in prison if found guilty. Fai was arrested on Tuesday morning and was expected to be appear shortly at a court in Alexandria, Virginia to hear the charges. Ahmad was believed to be currently residing in Pakistan, officials said. The complaint alleged that the two conspired illegally as Pakistani agents, falsifying and concealing material facts that they had a duty to disclose in dealings with the United States government. Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, it is illegal for anyone seeking to influence US policy or law not to fully disclose their identity and any underlying information. "The defendants are accused of thwarting this process by concealing the fact that a foreign government was funding and directing their lobbying and public relations efforts in America," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco. US Attorney Neil MacBride said: "Mr. Fai is accused of a decades-long scheme with one purpose -- to hide Pakistan's involvement behind his efforts to influence the US government's position on Kashmir. "His handlers in Pakistan allegedly funneled millions through the Kashmir Center to contribute to US elected officials, fund high-profile conferences, and pay for other efforts that promoted the Kashmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington." According to the Justice Department, Fai serves as the director of the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), a Washington NGO founded in 1990 that also goes by the name "Kashmir Center." US justice officials believe the KAC is one of three "Kashmir Centers" actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including Pakistan's military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) -- the two others being in London and Brussels. The Justice Department said witnesses allege that Ahmad was transferring money to Fai on the orders of the ISI for him to use to lobby for the KAC on behalf of the Pakistani government. "A second confidential witness told investigators that the ISI created the KAC to propagandize on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir," the Justice Department said. "This witness said ISI's sponsorship and control of KAC were secret and that ISI had been directing Fai's activities for the past 25 years." Fai's US activities had been controlled by four Pakistani government handlers with whom he had been in touch more than 4,000 times since June 2008, US justice officials allege. "According to the affidavit, Fai and the KAC have received at least $4 million, from the Pakistani government since the mid-1990s through Ahmad and his funding network," the Justice Department statement said.