Pensacola man indicted on multiple federal charges
PENSACOLA, Fla. – A Pensacola man was indicted on charges of unlawfully attempting to procure naturalization, in addition to wire and mail fraud, by a federal grand jury Friday. The charges were investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, the Pensacola Police Department, and the State Attorney's Office for the 1st Judicial Circuit.
"HSI will continue to work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners investigating crimes affecting our nation's security," said Susan L. McCormick special agent in charge of HSI Tampa.
The naturalization indictment alleges that in November 2011, Herdeypal Singh Bhatti, 41, of Pensacola, knowingly and falsely indicated on his naturalization application that he never failed to file a required federal income tax return and that he did not owe overdue federal taxes. The trial is scheduled for Sept. 21.
The fraud indictment alleges that, in 2010 and 2011, Bhatti committed wire and mail fraud by knowingly submitting fraudulent claims and supporting documentation to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The indictment alleges that Bhatti falsely claimed to be a hotel manager seeking payment for his lost earnings from the spill. The trial is scheduled for Oct. 5.
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