Pitts donates contribution from 2 accused Pakistani agents
Published: Friday, July 22, 2011
By Fran Maye, Special to the Local News
Rep. Joseph R. Pitts, R-16th, of East Marlborough, donated $4,000 Thursday in political contributions to charity after learning the money came from two men accused of being agents of Pakistan's intelligence service.
On Tuesday, the FBI arrested Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a U.S. citizen who lives in Alexandria, Va. Fai is director of the Kashmiri American Council in Washington.
Authorities say he and Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a U.S. citizen who is believed to be living in Pakistan, are charged with participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as agents of the Pakistani government in the U.S. without disclosing the affiliation with the Pakistani government as required by law. Ahmad remains at large and is believed to be in Pakistan. Both face a potential sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
Gave Neville, a spokesman for Pitts, said the two individuals misrepresented where they were getting their money. The contributions, made in 2004, would be illegal if the men are found guilty.
"Joe did absolutely nothing wrong," Neville said. "Joe has been critical on activities in Pakistan for a long time."
Pitts introduced a resolution in 2004 calling for peace between Pakistan and India in the disputed territory of Kashmir, just days after he had received a $2,000 campaign contribution from Ahmad, allegedly under the direction of Pakistan's military.
Pitts said there was no connection between the resolution and the contribution from Ahmad.
"It never appeared to me that Dr. Fai was a lobbyist for Pakistan," Pitts said. "It always seemed to me that he was an American working for peace in the land of his birth. Clearly, much more was going on. Dr. Fai will get his day in court. Before long, we will learn exactly what he was doing behind the scenes."
According to Neil MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, 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.
"His (Fai's) 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," MacBride said.
Kashmir is located in the mountainous region between India and Pakistan and has been hotly and violently contested since the two nations divided in 1947. Pitts went there in 2000 and met with a large group of Kashmiris, many of whom were missing arms and legs. At the time, Pitts said a teen asked him why the U.S. doesn't help them out.
"I decided I would try to help them, and I did," Pitts said, who called the people Internationally Displaced Persons. "I raised private aid for them. I urged President Bush to appoint a special envoy to press the governments of India and Pakistan (both nuclear powers) to reconcile. And I looked for opportunities to urge the two nations to take small steps: a bus route across the border, cricket matches between the sides."
According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Fai serves as the director of the Kashmiri American Council, a non-governmental organization located in Washington, D.C. that was founded in 1990. 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 actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including Pakistan's military intelligence service. KAC has reportedly spent $4 million since 1990 to influence U.S. politicians, the affidavit states.
Pitts called the contributions of $2,000 each "unremarkable."
"The contributions appeared completely unremarkable," Pitts said. "Both men were American citizens, and it seemed clear that they were giving because they believed in my work."
Pitts made a $2,000 donation to the Lancaster Boys & Girls Club, and a $2,000 donation to the Water Street Mission, which aids homeless people. Both organizations are in Lancaster County.
Pitts said Fai and Ahmed's ploy didn't work.
"Whatever the Inter-Service Intelligence agencies (or ISI of Pakistan Army) hoped to accomplish — it didn't work," Pitts said. "I was just as critical of Pakistan after Dr. Fai's contribution as I had been before. I pushed both sides just as hard to achieve peace. The real victims of this episode are the suffering people of Kashmir who are desperate for peace. Their plight has been hijacked by a government that claimed to be on their side."
The investigation began in 2005, but informants told federal investigators that the money started flowing in the 1990s.
