Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, of Bangladesh, was arrested after he allegedly attempted to detonate what he thought was a 1,000lb bomb, the BBC reports.

Nafis is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al-Qaeda.

The FBI had conducted a ‘sting’ operation against Nafis, with an undercover agent selling the 21-year-old what he thought were explosives.

It later observed as Nafis assembled detonators and sought out contacts to help him with the attack.

Officials said there had never been any actual threat to the Federal Reserve building, which is located in downtown Manhattan in New York City.

Federal officials claim Nafis proposed several targets, including a high-ranking US official and the New York Stock Exchange.