Fairfax Man Charged for Hiding His Alleged Affiliation With Pakistani Government

A Fairfax man was charged Tuesday with keeping silent on his involvement in a long-term conspiracy to act as an agent of the Pakistani government. FBI investigators claim he gave over $4 million in Pakistani funds to politicians to support a Kashmiri cause.

Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a U.S. citizen, faces five years in prison if found guilty of hiding his status as an agent for the Pakistani government. The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires those acting on behalf of a foreign force to identify themselves and the reasons behind their actions. 

“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.”

Fai is the director of the Kashmiri American Council, a non-governmental organization that claims to educate others on the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination, in Washington, D.C. FBI investigators believe the group is run by the Pakistani government. They claim to have discovered KAC annual strategy reports and budget requests sent by Fai to Pakistan.

One such strategy report, the "Plan of Action of KAC/Kashmir Center," detailed the group's plan to amass U.S. Congressional and state support for self-determination in Kashmir, according to an affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Other correspondence between Fai and Pakistan asked for $100,000 to be spent on Congressional campaign contributions in 2009.

So far investigators have found nothing to show that elected officials who received funds from Fai or the KAC knew where the money was coming from.

Investigators said Fai communicated with four Pakistani government handlers more than 4,000 times since June 2008. He, along with Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a U.S. citizen and resident of Pakistan, allegedly worked together to receive at least $4 million to KAC since the mid-1990s.

"The money is allegedly routed to Fai through Ahmad and a network of other individuals connected to Ahmad," said an FBI release. "Ahmad allegedly arranges for his contacts in the United States to provide money to Fai in return for repayment of those amounts in Pakistan."

Fai was outed by a confidential witness, according to the affidavit. The witness said he helped cover up the origin of funds from Pakistan meant to tempt sympathetic U.S. candidates. Another confidential witness told investigators that Fai had been acting on directives from Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency for the past 25 years.

He denies having anything to do with the Pakistani government.

There are two other Kashmir Centers in London and Brussels.