FBI's fallen Pakistani agent Kamran Faridi released from US jail

Kamran Faridi, a former prominent operative of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has been released from a Florida prison after serving nearly four years of his 84-month sentence.

Initially sentenced on December 9, 2022, Faridi received 84 months' imprisonment for convictions related to "transmitting threats in interstate commerce, threatening to assault a federal officer, and obstruction of justice."

On March 18, 2024, a federal judge in New York, Cathy Seibel, reduced Faridi's sentence to 72 months.

Released under specific conditions, including relinquishing his US citizenship and agreeing to depart the United States permanently before August, Faridi, aged 60, hails from Block 3, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi. He was associated with the Peoples Students Federation (PSF) and had a close connection with PSF leader Najeeb Ahmed, who was assassinated in 1990.

Described as a "Karachi street hustler" by the London-based Middle East Eye (MEE) news magazine, Faridi's family sent him to Sweden following his involvement in various violent incidents.

Faridi immigrated to the US in 1991 and, within four years, acquired a gas station in Atlanta, Georgia. It was there that he came into contact with FBI agents impressed by his fluency in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, and Spanish. In 1996, they formally recruited him as a full-time informant and agent.

"A Pakistani-American dual national, Faridi ventured into opposition-held Syria during the peak of the country's civil war, expressing intentions to establish an orphanage there," the report added.

However, Faridi's journey from street hustler to FBI agent took a turn after his instrumental role in the arrest of Karachi businessman Jabir Motiwala in London in 2018.

Posing as a Russian mafia operative, Faridi orchestrated a scheme to entangle Motiwala in illicit activities. Yet, a discord arose between Faridi and his FBI handlers when he threatened to expose their manipulation of evidence against Motiwala.

Intent on testifying in Motiwala's favor, Faridi was apprehended in London in 2020 following the FBI's interception of his communications with Motiwala's legal team. Charged with threatening former FBI colleagues, Faridi was promptly extradited back to the US.