Most people haven't heard of him, but he's notorious in the consular world. During his time as the non-immigrant visa chief in Ho Chi Minh City, Sestak sold hundreds of U.S. visas to Vietnamese nationals who didn't qualify for them.
In his defense, Sestak's lawyer sought to drum up sympathy by depicting him as someone who just wanted to be loved:
Most significantly, when Michael arrived in Vietnam, his personal life was totally unfulfilling. Within his first year assigned to Vietnam, Michael turned 40. Michael was unmarried, had no children, and no serious prospects for finding someone to share life together... In both Spain and Poland, Michael had a girlfriend that he met towards the end of his tour. Unable to further develop these relationships in such a short amount of time, Michael arrived at his next assignment unaccompanied. It was during these transitions that Michael began to question the meaning of life and finding true happiness.People react to loneliness in different ways. Some eat too much ice cream. Some binge-watch Netflix. Some adopt cats. And some...sell $3.3 million worth of fraudulent visas.
Also, I know it's not PC but...if Mike felt alone in Vietnam, as a not-too-old white guy with a decent salary and a dip passport, he must've been completely hopeless as an individual. Because, come on.
I can only hope State doesn't take this too much to heart, otherwise I'd better get married in the next 5 years if I don't want to lose that security clearance.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHe's in Vietnam and think it's easier to ask "Do you want to give me $50.000 for a visa?" than "Do you want to go out for a drink?".
ReplyDelete