After years of investigation, a former State Department employee has been sentenced to 64 months in prison for his role in selling US visas to Vietnamese citizens who had previously been denied them for up to US$70,000 a piece.
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Michael T. Sestak and a number of accomplices were complicit in the scheme which netted the group more than $9 million over two years during which they helped push through nearly 500 visas, reports the Washington Times.
Sestak, who headed the non-immigrant visa section of the consulate in Saigon, received about $3 million of the profits that he laundered through property purchases in Thailand, according to American authorities. Under his plea deal, he will sell the properties and forfeit all proceeds.
The ring was busted when an informant reported his activities to the consulate general in 2013.
“Because of this defendant’s selfish greed, nearly 500 foreign nationals were able to enter the United States without the proper screening. This sentence reflects the seriousness of his corrupt conduct,” said Vincent H. Cohen Jr., acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Prosecutors said the group charged $15,000 to $70,000 for each visa application and added that $5 million is still unaccounted for.
