At the federal court on Wednesday, a US Foreign Service official accused of selling hundreds of visas to Vietnamese residents pleaded guilty to receiving more than US$3 million in bribes in a visa-processing scam, along with two other charges.
Michael Sestak, 42, admitted to the US District Court that while serving as the non-immigrant visa chief in the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, he took bribes ranging from $15,000 to $70,000 to approve visas for nearly 500 Vietnamese seeking to enter the US.
In addition to bribery, Sestak also pleaded guilty to two other charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions in property derived from illegal activity.
Sestak held the position from August 2010 until September 2012, when he left the position to prepare for active-duty service with the Navy.
During the period, the conspiracy covered at least 500 fraudulent visa applications. The Ho Chi Minh City consulate received 31,386 non-immigrant visa applications and rejected 35.1 percent of them from May 1 to September 6, 2012. During the same period, Sestak rejected only 8.2 percent of the 5,489 visa applications he handled.
Sestak transferred the money gained from the visa-for-money scam out of Vietnam by using money launderers through offshore banks, mainly based in China, to a bank account in Thailand that he opened in May 2012.
He later used the money to buy real estate in Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand.
“This Foreign Service officer corrupted the integrity of a process designed to screen visitors to the United States, a process that obviously has implications for our national security,” U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said in a statement. “His motivation for betraying his oath of office was cold, hard cash.”
For his involvement in the visa-for-cash scheme, Sestak faces the possible sentence ranging from 19 to 24 years in jail, according to federal guidelines. He has also agreed to pay a money judgment of at least $6 million.
Sestak was arrested in Southern California in May and has since been held without bail. A sentencing hearing for Sestak has not been scheduled.
Sestak had five conspirators in the scam, including co-conspirator 1, a US national; co-conspirator 2, a Vietnamese national; co-conspirator 3, a US national; co-conspirator 4, a US national; and co-conspirator 5, a Vietnamese national.
Of these co-conspirators, three have been arrested.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
