Three men pose as Homeland Security officials

Yesterday, June 7, three individuals — two of them pretending to be Homeland Security officials — were arrested for falsely promising to provide immigration status to individuals. The three allegedly fleeced $6 million from at least 150 victims.

Hardev Panesar of El Cajon and Rafael Hastie of Tijuana had been pretending for at least three years that they were Homeland Security agents, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed today. Neither has ever worked for Homeland Security, but they flashed fake agency credentials.

The third person charged, Gurdev Singh of Bakersfield, helped the other two recruit potential victims. The three promised to deliver immigration documents to victims, and even took their fingerprints. But the three never produced the documents.