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ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The owner of a St. Cloud bar that was destroyed by fire Feb. 17 now faces federal charges.

Andrew Charles Welsh, 41, of St. Joseph, Minn., was originally charged in Stearns County District Court with two felony counts: first-degree arson of a building using flammable material and first-degree arson of a dwelling,

He was arrested Friday, Dec. 11, by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents on a federal grand jury indictment alleging three counts: arson, use of fire to commit a federal felony and wire fraud.

The investigation into the fire at the Press Bar and Parlor uncovered that the fire started in the basement of the business and an ATF accelerant detection canine indicated the presence of potential accelerants, and an ATF forensic science laboratory later found the presence of an ignitable liquid from samples taken from Welsh’s desk, according to court documents.

ATF investigators and the St. Cloud Police Department executed a search warrant at Welsh’s Sauk Rapids, Minn., residence Feb. 29 and found more than $1,900 in varied denominations in Welsh’s truck along with a bottle of Ronsonol lighter fuel.

It is alleged in court documents that Welsh set the building on fire to fraudulently collect the insurance money.

The federal indictment said Walsh retained an insurance adjuster to assist in making an insurance claim on the building following its destruction in the fire. The claim was officially made on Feb. 26, 2020. At that time, Welsh signed and attached a document to the claim paperwork that said the loss of the Press Bar did not originate with Welsh. The court documents allege Welsh did know he was the cause of the fire, a violation of federal law.

According to a news release from the Stearns County Attorney's Office, the prosecution of the case against Welsh will now be turned over the United States Attorney's Office. The federal arson and wire fraud charges carry harsher penalties than the state charges, the release said.

The investigation involved multiple agencies including the ATF's National Response Team and members from the St. Paul Field Division, the Minnesota State Fire Marshal, the St. Cloud Fire Marshal, the St. Cloud Police Department, the Stearns County Sheriff's Office and the St. Cloud Fire Department.