RAJWANT S. VIRK PLEADS GUILTY
IN CASE INVOLVING SCHEME TO SELL VISAS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff of the
Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott of the Eastern
District of California announced today that Rajwant S. Virk has pleaded
guilty in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., to one count of
conspiring to defraud the United States, bribe State Department officials
and commit visa fraud.
Virk, 46, of Herndon, Virginia, is one of nine defendants charged as
part of an ongoing visa fraud investigation. Virk has agreed to cooperate
with the governments continuing investigation. He faces a maximum
penalty of five years in prison at sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 22,
2003.
Seven other defendants charged in a May 1, 2003 indictment also appeared
today before U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell. Judge Burrell also
heard argument on a motion relating to the bail status of defendants
Vinesh Prasad, 33, and Minesh Pradad, 28, both of Sacramento. Defendants
Acey R. Johnson, 32, who until recently was a Consular Associate employed
in the consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka, and his spouse
Long N. Lee, a State Department Foreign Service Officer and career State
Department employee, are also in federal custody. Defendants Narinderjit
Singh Bhullar, 40, of Sacramento, Phuong-Hien Lam Trinh, 35, of Torrance,
Calif., and Rachhpal Singh, 32, of Hayward, Calif., were previously
released on bail.
The ninth defendant charged in the case is a fugitive.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed April 29, 2003, the defendants
were allegedly involved in a scheme in which Johnson and Lee took hundreds
of thousands of dollars in bribes between 2000 and 2003 in exchange
for the issuance of visas to various foreign nationals, primarily from
Vietnam and India. In his plea today, Virk admitted that he started
making payments to Johnson and Lee in 1999 to obtain visas for others
wishing to enter the United States. He also admitted that in 2002 and
2003, he coordinated the travel of aliens to Sri Lanka directly with
defendant Long Lee, where the aliens were given visas at the U.S. Embassy
to enter the United States. Virk also admitted that, after arranging
for the issuance of the visas, Lee instructed Virk to purchase cashiers
checks in amounts under $10,000, payable to Lee and Johnson, to their
relatives, and to accounts which they controlled. Virk also admitted
that he delivered cash to family members of Lee.
In addition to a conspiracy charge against all defendants, several
of the defendants are charged with wire fraud, bribery, visa fraud and
other felony offenses. The case is being prosecuted in U.S. District
Court in Sacramento by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin B. Wagner and
S. Robert Tice-Raskin of the U.S. Attorney's Office, and Noah D. Bookbinder
of the Public Integrity Section, headed by Section Chief Noel L. Hillman.
The case is the product of an extensive investigation conducted by the
Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center
(CATIC) and several other state and federal agencies associated with
the Joint Terrorism Task Force for the Eastern District of California,
including the California Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Bureau of Immigration Control
and Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security. Sri Lankan law
enforcement authorities also provided assistance in the investigation.
Source: Department of justice http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/June/03_crm_341.h