| Examiner Coverage |
|
|
A Fairfax man has admitted that he concealed $3.5 million in funds funneled over two decades from Pakistan’s spy agency to support his lobbying activities. Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, ran the Kashmiri American Council, a D.C. lobbying group that focuses on Kashmir, a disputed area on Pakistan’s border with India. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria on Wednesday to one count of conspiracy and one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service.
Fai admitted that he received money from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and other government agencies and was untruthful about the origins of the funds. In total, his plea agreement says, he concealed at least $3.5 million sent to his lobbying group from ISI and other Pakistani government employees between 1990 to 2011.
He lied to authorities in documents and interviews by saying that he didn’t know anyone affiliated with the ISI and KAC did not receive foreign funds, court documents say.
Fai only spoke during the half-hour hearing to answer District Judge Liam O’Grady’s questions with “Yes, your honor” and “Yes, sir.”
Court records say he organized conferences, contributed to candidates and met with congressional officials about unifying Kashmir with support from Pakistani officials and agencies, who provided KAC with about $500,000 to $700,000 a year.
He regularly wrote to ISI officers who handled Kashmiri affairs about his strategy and asked for money, according to court documents.
“Fai inflated his annual budgets and embellished his reports of his accomplishments in order to obtain the maximum amount of money,” the documents say.
Fai admitted that he told straw donors who routed funds from Pakistan to KAC that they could list the transfers to KAC as charitable donations.
Plea documents detail messages sent between Fai and ISI officials that indicate the lobbying group coordinated its activities with the Pakistani government.
Officers asked Fai to give him the topics of events he was planning for the upcoming year and sent suggestions for a KAC conference, court documents say.
A phone number listed for KAC on Wednesday had been disconnected.
Fai could receive up to eight years in prison when he is sentenced March 9. The plea agreement includes no recommendation on sentencing.
