A D.C. lobbyist who concealed millions of dollars he received from Pakistan “acted as an agent” of the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and operated his lobbying firm as “a front” for the spy organization, prosecutors say in court papers. The statements are some of the strongest yet linking 62-year-old Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai to the ISI. The former head of the Kashmiri American Council — a lobbying group that focuses on Kashmir, a disputed area on the India-Pakistan border — is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in federal court in Alexandria.
Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady to sentence Fai to four years behind bars, above the guidelines range of two years and three months to two years and nine months. Fai’s attorney is requesting a sentence of probation.
Fai pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy and one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service. He admitted that the KAC received money from the ISI and other Pakistani government agencies and was untruthful about the origins of the funds. His plea agreement says that he concealed at least $3.5 million sent to the lobbying group between 1990 and 2011.
Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Fai “labored mightily” to hide his association with the ISI and the sentencing guidelines “do not even purport to measure the harm caused by Fai’s concealment of the fact that the influence he peddled through his conferences and campaign contributions was financed by the ISI.”
Court records say he organized conferences, contributed to candidates and met with congressional officials about unifying Kashmir. Fai duped the American people by pretending that the funds for those efforts came from American citizens, rather than the ISI, according to prosecutors.
Fai only accepted the funds from Pakistan because KAC needed the money, defense attorney Nina Ginsberg wrote in her sentencing memo. Fai thought his lobbying group would be less credible if the source of the donations came to light, she wrote.
In a seven-page letter to O’Grady, Fai says his commitment to peace in Kashmir led to his crimes.
“The reason for going astray of U.S. law was that I was passionate about freedom for the Kashmiri people,” Fai wrote.
