Convicted Pakistani-American businessman worked for US intelligence agency: Report

(Karachi) A Pakistani-American, who has been convicted for 12 years in prison for working for foreign governments, had been involved in carrying out intelligence assignments for the US government, a report published in theWall Street Journal revealed.

As per the report, 50-year-old Imaad Zuberi pleaded guilty to tax evasion, foreign-influence peddling, and campaign-finance violations and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was criminally charged in October 2019 by the Justice Department.

Later, legal documents transpired that Zuberi had been associated with US intelligence for a decade.

The Pakistani-American businessman was also involved in a major political fundraiser for American leaders like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, the report highighted. He also arranged fund-raising dinners for senior Republican and Democratic members of the US Congress.

His lawyers are preparing to challenge the sentence in an appeal that they say might raise questions over how heavily a defendant’s cooperation with intelligence agencies should be weighed against criminal charges.

“As evidenced by the public docket, national-security issues may have been part of this case and those same issues may ultimately arise as part of the appeal,” said David Warrington, a lawyer representing Zuberi.

The report claimed that Zuberi’s history of secret help to the CIA continued for more than a decade, “depicting a relationship that started with debriefings about his interactions with foreign officials but grew to involve more formal tasks and missions”.

Meanwhile, Imaad Zuberi has secured the assistance of two former CIA officials in his defense. Robert Eatinger, a former top lawyer at the agency and former CIA official Jose Rodriguez, have submitted sealed affidavits in support of leniency to the judge.