MCALLEN – An Hidalgo County man is accused of impersonating a federal agent. Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him Monday.

In January, authorities got a tip about a man identifying himself as a federal agent, who offered help dismissing criminal cases in exchange for money. The tipster met with the man, who investigators identified as Reginaldo Rodriguez Saenz.

During the meeting, Rodriguez wore a badge near his front pocket. The criminal complaint states he said he worked for a federal agency’s Fugitive Recovery Agency Department. He allegedly claimed he did the “dirty work” for the FBI and is “the one that bribes the government, well, on behalf of them.”

According to the criminal complaint, Rodriguez told the tipster he needed a $5,000 down payment to review the criminal investigation and figure out how much it would cost to get the pending charges dismissed.

The tipster met with Rodriguez on Monday, and Rodriguez allegedly accepted the down payment. The criminal complaint states Rodriguez said he would make the tipster’s name disappear from the investigation.

HSI officials and Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies arrested Rodriguez after the meeting and recovered the $5,000 from his vehicle. When speaking with investigators, Rodriguez denied offering criminal defendants help changing indictment or getting sentences reduced.