Fake DHS Agents Allegedly Scam ‘Unauthorized’ Immigrants Out of $6 Million

Fake DHS agents allegedly promising citizenship via proper immigration channels scammed ‘unauthorized’ immigrants out of $6 million.

Three fake agents have been named. They are 69-year-old Hardev Panesar,  47-year-old Rafael “Rafa” Hastie, and 56-year-old Gurdev Singh.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Panesar’s legal name is Hardev Singh Mohan Singh Panesar. He is Sikh born and allegedly ran the fake DHS operation from his home. The FBI indicated that the fake agents would charge $20,000 to $40,000 under the guise of helping individuals secure legal status or U.S. citizenship,

Panesar and Hastie stand accused of faking DHS status since 2014.

One of the indictments against Panesar stems from an 2014 incident in which he allegedly offered “to obtain a green card for an unauthorized immigrant for $45,000.” Panesar allegedly “collected thousands of dollars from the man and his wife” and is accused of using “threats” to keep the process moving.

The prosecutor is asking for Panesar and Hastie to be held without bond. He justifies the request by claiming that Panesar is “a chronic liar.” He says Panesar has visions of grandeur, once going so far as to tell “someone that he had met then-President Barack Obama, who gave him a jacket.” Moreover, when Panesar and Hastie were originally arrested, both “initially claimed that they were National Security Agency agents.”

In the mid-1980s Panesar was charged with involvement in a Seattle immigration smuggling ring that was busted. The ring was illegally bringing East Indians into the United States and “part of the scam involved paying American women to marry…men for green cards.”

Panesar pleaded guilty over his involvement in the Seattle case.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.