to investigate case
Joint Terrorism Task Force brought in
to investigate case
BY MATT AUERBACH
Staff Writer
Two Pakistani nationals face forgery charges after one of them allegedly attempted to use fraudulent documents to obtain a state identification card from the Motor Vehicle Commission agency on Kilmer Road in Edison recently.
The New Jersey State Police arrested Mohade Aftab Khan, 29, of the Iselin section of Woodbridge, and Muhammed Ivrizwan Rizwan, 42, Metuchen, on charges of forgery, tampering with public records and conspiracy on Dec. 22, said state police spokesman Trooper Stephen Jones.
According to Jones, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, composed of state police officers and the FBI, took over the investigation after the initial arrests were made because one of the men allegedly told officers he was planning to travel to Pakistan and Iraq.
"This is the type of illegal activity that our detectives investigate and root out on a daily basis. Document fraud is often the gateway to other criminal endeavors and enforcement at this level can have an impact on homeland security issues," Col. Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said in a prepared statement.
While working undercover at the Kilmer Road office doing an audit of paperwork coming in that day, state police came upon documents they suspected were fraudulent, Jones said.
Khan was the one who actually attempted to obtain the identity card with false documents, police said.
Khan was also found to be in the United States illegally after police ran a background check on him, Jones said.
Both he and Rizwan, who is in the country legally, are being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick.
Khan is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, but is not eligible for release due to a request filed by federal immigration officials, Jones said.
Rizwan is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.