Visa officer Sestak pleads guilty to accepting bribes

Photo source Tuoitrenews

According to international media, 42-year-old Michael T. Sestak, a former non-immigrant visa chief in the Consular Section of the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City was arrested in May 2013 and could face 19-24 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Sestak conspired with others to “sell visas” valued at over $9 million. At the time of his capture he had already made $3 million. Nearly 500 Vietnamese nationals entered the US under the fraudulent scheme.

According to a press release from the US Department of Justice, Sestak conspired with both American and Vietnamese people to obtain visas to the US for Vietnamese citizens.

Co-conspirators reached out to people in Vietnam and the US and advertised the scheme by creating a website and spreading the word through emails and telephone calls, the release said.

They also assisted visa applicants with their applications and prepped them for consular interviews. After submitting their application, applicants would receive an appointment at the Consulate and would be interviewed and approved for a visa by Sestak. Applicants and their families paid between $20,000 and $70,000 per visa.

Sestak received the money via a bank account in China and then transferred the funds to another bank account in Thailand.

Conspirators included 39-year-old Binh Vo and his 27-year-old younger sister Hong Vo, and 29-year-old Truc Tranh Huynh. They were arrsed in September, May, and June 2013. Also Anh Dao Thuy Nuyen, or Alice Nguyen, Binh Vo’s wife, was also found to be involved and is currently wanted by US authorities.

Foreign media cited US attorney Ronald C. Machen as saying Sestak’s scheme “corrupted the integrity of a process designed to screen visitors to the United States, a process that obviously has implications for our national security. His motivation for betraying his oath of office was cold, hard cash.”