From:
vanlongtran@sympatico.ca
Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 21:44:39 -0400
Subject: [ChinhNghiaViet] Vien chuc Ngoai giao My tai Sai Gon bi bat vi an hoi lo
Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 21:44:39 -0400
Subject: [ChinhNghiaViet] Vien chuc Ngoai giao My tai Sai Gon bi bat vi an hoi lo
Lê Hương Lan -
Báo chí Mỹ vừa đồng loạt
công bố hồ sơ ṭa án, theo đó, một viên chức ngoại giao Hoa Kỳ từng đă “nhận
hàng triệu USD hối lộ” từ người Việt Nam muốn xin cấp thị thực. Đó là ông
Michael Sestak, 42 tuổi, người đứng đầu một đường dây gian lận visa và ăn hối
lộ từ $50 ngàn đến $70 ngàn cho những ai muốn có visa vào Mỹ hợp pháp.
Michael Sestak - nguyên Trưởng Văn pḥng cấp visa không di trú
Trụ sở Lănh sự quán Hoa Kỳ tại TP Hồ Chí Minh
Ông Sestak bị bắt một
cách êm thắm ở vùng Nam California hồi tuần qua. Lấy lư do là nghi can có thể
bỏ trốn, giới hữu trách xin ṭa cho giữ ông ta mà không để đóng tiền bảo lănh
cho đến khi đưa về Washington và chính thức truy tố nhưng hồ sơ giữ kín.
Ông Sestak từng làm việc
ở ṭa tổng lănh sự Mỹ ở TP Hồ Chí Minh từ Tháng Tám năm 2010 và đứng đầu Văn
pḥng cấp visa không di trú. Đến tháng 9 năm 2012, ông rời khỏi chức vụ để
chuẩn bị tái ngũ trong Hải Quân Mỹ.
Viên chức Ngoại Giao
Michael T. Sestak đă từng bị tố giác về hành vi gian lận visa và hối lộ, trong
vụ án mà theo các nhân viên điều tra đă diễn ra ở một vài quốc gia khác. Tuy
nhiên, việc xử lư tố giác này không được tiết lộ.
Ông Simon Dinits, đặc vụ
thuộc Cục An ninh Ngoại giao của Bộ Ngoại giao Mỹ, tường tŕnh các cáo buộc
chống lại Sestak và 5 kẻ đồng phạm trong một bản khai 28 trang gửi kèm cáo
trạng. Một trong số các đồng phạm của Sestak là "tổng giám đốc văn pḥng
của một công ty đa quốc gia tại Việt Nam." Bốn người khác là bạn bè hoặc
người thân của cá nhân này. Tất cả sống ở Việt Nam.
Những kẻ đồng phạm này
khi đi kiếm mối đă quảng cáo chi phí từ $50,000 đến $70,000 nhưng cũng có khi
lấy rẻ hơn, theo điều tra viên Simon Dinits. “Họ cũng khuyến khích người môi
giới hăy tăng giá và có quyền giữ lại phần tiền “dôi ra như một khoản hoa hồng”
cho riêng ḿnh,” theo hồ sơ điều tra.
Ông Dinits nói một kẻ
đồng mưu đă tiếp cận những người ở Việt Nam và ở Mỹ, quảng cáo rằng ḿnh có thể
bảo đảm xin cấp thị thực Mỹ, kể cả những người có ít cơ hội. Những người khác
giúp chuẩn bị hồ sơ và Sestak sẽ xem xét hồ sơ đó, theo ông Dinits.
Ông Sestak chuyển tiền ra
khỏi Việt Nam bằng những ngân hàng ngoại quốc, phần lớn ở Trung Quốc, về một
trương mục ở Thái Lan mà ông đă mở ra hồi Tháng Năm 2012. Bản tường tŕnh của
ông Dinits nói rằng ông Sestak sau đó dùng tiền này để đầu tư vào địa ốc ở
Phuket và Bangkok, Thái Lan.
Hồ sơ lưu trữ cho thấy từ
tháng 5/2012 đến tháng 9/2012, ṭa lănh sự ở Sài G̣n nhận được 31,386 đơn loại
này và bác khoảng 35.1%. Trong khi đó, cá nhân ông Sestak xem xét 5,489 hồ sơ
và bác bỏ khoảng 8.2%. Con số này c̣n tụt xuống tới mức 3.8% vào tháng Tám,
ngay trước khi ông Sestak rời khỏi nơi đây.
Ông Dinits nói rằng hồi
Tháng Bảy năm ngoái có người báo cho ṭa lănh sự biết rằng chỉ trong một làng ở
Việt Nam đă có tới 50 đến 70 người trả tiền để có visa vào Mỹ. Tin tức này giúp
các nhà điều tra lần ra dấu vết việc các hồ sơ xin cấp thị thực trên mạng thông
qua địa chỉ IP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Foreign Service
officer made millions in visa-for-money scam, feds charge
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By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — A State Department official "received several million dollars in bribes" from Vietnamese residents seeking visas, according to newly public court documents.
In a previously undisclosed criminal complaint, Foreign Service officer Michael T. Sestak faces charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and bribery in an alleged scheme that investigators say spanned several countries. In some cases, investigators say, desperate Vietnamese paid up to $70,000 each for visas granting legal entry to the United States.
The "co-conspirators" advertised that the charge would be between $50,000 and $70,000 per visa but also that they’d sometimes charge less, State Department investigator Simon Dinits said in an affidavit. "They also encouraged recruiters to raise the price and keep the amount they charged over the established rate as their own commission," the affidavit said.
Investigators say the alleged conspiracy occurred while Sestak was handling non-immigrant visas in the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Sestak served in the consulate until last September, when he left in preparation for active-duty service with the Navy. By then, investigators say, an informant had tipped them to the alleged visa scheme.
An attorney for Sestak didn’t offer comment Thursday.
Sestak, who turns 42 this year, was quietly arrested in Southern California about a week ago. Citing a "serious risk defendant will flee," authorities secured a judge’s order to hold him without bail until he can be transferred back to Washington, where the complaint was originally filed under seal May 6.
Though it’s since been unsealed, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington declined Thursday to comment on the case until Sestak has been returned to the city. A State Department representative also declined to comment.
Dinits, a special agent with the department’s Diplomatic Security Service, spelled out the allegations against Sestak and five unnamed co-conspirators in a 28-page affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint. The allegations include a close accounting of how the Foreign Service officer, according to investigators, shifted ill-gotten gains across international borders.
"He ultimately moved the money out of Vietnam by using money launderers through offshore banks, primarily based in China, to a bank account in Thailand that he opened in May 2012," Dinits said. "He then used the money to purchase real estate in Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand."
Sestak joined the consulate staff in Ho Chi Minh City in August 2010 and served as the chief of the non-immigrant visa staff. It was a busy office and Sestak came to have a remarkably lenient record for granting visa applications, Dinits said.
From May 1, 2012, to Sept. 6, investigators say, the consulate received 31,386 non-immigrant visa applications and rejected 35.1 percent of them. During the same period, Sestak handled 5,489 visa applications and rejected only 8.2 percent of them, according to investigators.
Sestak’s reported visa rejection rate fell to 3.8 percent in August, shortly before he was to leave the office.
According to Dinits, one of Sestak’s alleged co-conspirators was the "general director of the Vietnam office of a multi-national company located in Vietnam." The four others were friends or relatives of this individual. All live in Vietnam.
Dinits said one co-conspirator "reached out to people in Vietnam, and in the U.S.," and would advertise that visas could be guaranteed, including for those who wouldn’t otherwise be likely candidates. Other co-conspirators would help prepare the applicant and Sestak would review the application, according to Dinits.
Last July, Dinits said, an informant advised consular officials that 50 to 70 people from one village in Vietnam had illegally paid for their visas. That prompted investigators to start tracing online visa applications using Internet Protocol addresses, the unique numbers used to find particular computers or servers on the Internet. The investigators reported tracing money transfers, including $150,000 allegedly sent to Sestak’s sister in Florida. They also snooped on email accounts
"This opportunity will only last for a few more months, and after that it’s over," one alleged co-conspirator wrote in a July 5 email quoted by Dinits.
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By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — A State Department official "received several million dollars in bribes" from Vietnamese residents seeking visas, according to newly public court documents.
In a previously undisclosed criminal complaint, Foreign Service officer Michael T. Sestak faces charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and bribery in an alleged scheme that investigators say spanned several countries. In some cases, investigators say, desperate Vietnamese paid up to $70,000 each for visas granting legal entry to the United States.
The "co-conspirators" advertised that the charge would be between $50,000 and $70,000 per visa but also that they’d sometimes charge less, State Department investigator Simon Dinits said in an affidavit. "They also encouraged recruiters to raise the price and keep the amount they charged over the established rate as their own commission," the affidavit said.
Investigators say the alleged conspiracy occurred while Sestak was handling non-immigrant visas in the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Sestak served in the consulate until last September, when he left in preparation for active-duty service with the Navy. By then, investigators say, an informant had tipped them to the alleged visa scheme.
An attorney for Sestak didn’t offer comment Thursday.
Sestak, who turns 42 this year, was quietly arrested in Southern California about a week ago. Citing a "serious risk defendant will flee," authorities secured a judge’s order to hold him without bail until he can be transferred back to Washington, where the complaint was originally filed under seal May 6.
Though it’s since been unsealed, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington declined Thursday to comment on the case until Sestak has been returned to the city. A State Department representative also declined to comment.
Dinits, a special agent with the department’s Diplomatic Security Service, spelled out the allegations against Sestak and five unnamed co-conspirators in a 28-page affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint. The allegations include a close accounting of how the Foreign Service officer, according to investigators, shifted ill-gotten gains across international borders.
"He ultimately moved the money out of Vietnam by using money launderers through offshore banks, primarily based in China, to a bank account in Thailand that he opened in May 2012," Dinits said. "He then used the money to purchase real estate in Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand."
Sestak joined the consulate staff in Ho Chi Minh City in August 2010 and served as the chief of the non-immigrant visa staff. It was a busy office and Sestak came to have a remarkably lenient record for granting visa applications, Dinits said.
From May 1, 2012, to Sept. 6, investigators say, the consulate received 31,386 non-immigrant visa applications and rejected 35.1 percent of them. During the same period, Sestak handled 5,489 visa applications and rejected only 8.2 percent of them, according to investigators.
Sestak’s reported visa rejection rate fell to 3.8 percent in August, shortly before he was to leave the office.
According to Dinits, one of Sestak’s alleged co-conspirators was the "general director of the Vietnam office of a multi-national company located in Vietnam." The four others were friends or relatives of this individual. All live in Vietnam.
Dinits said one co-conspirator "reached out to people in Vietnam, and in the U.S.," and would advertise that visas could be guaranteed, including for those who wouldn’t otherwise be likely candidates. Other co-conspirators would help prepare the applicant and Sestak would review the application, according to Dinits.
Last July, Dinits said, an informant advised consular officials that 50 to 70 people from one village in Vietnam had illegally paid for their visas. That prompted investigators to start tracing online visa applications using Internet Protocol addresses, the unique numbers used to find particular computers or servers on the Internet. The investigators reported tracing money transfers, including $150,000 allegedly sent to Sestak’s sister in Florida. They also snooped on email accounts
"This opportunity will only last for a few more months, and after that it’s over," one alleged co-conspirator wrote in a July 5 email quoted by Dinits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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