US Consulate in Vietnam Caught Taking Bribery For Visa Scheme

According to a McClatchy report, a consular officer allegedly sold visas for millions of dollars at the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, and laundered millions in profits by buying real estate in Phuket and Bangkok.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/05/23/192116/foreign-service-officer-made-millions.html

The state department has been covering up the story for weeks but it was recently exposed by McClatchy. 

Foreign Service officer Michael T. Sestak was charged on conspiracy to commit visa fraud and bribery in an alleged scheme that investigators say spanned several countries. He and his cohorts charged Vietnamese  up to $70,000 each for visas granting legal entry to the United States.
          
The state deparment 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.  Sestak then 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.  He then used the million of dollars gained from the bribery scheme to purchase high-end  real estate in Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand.

For Vietnamese-Americans who are interested to know more about the details of the corruption at the US Consulate in Vietnam,  US Ambassor to Vietnam, David Shear, will be at the Board Chamber, Santa Clara County, on June 7 at 4:00 PM.

 

Scott Pham for Santa Clara County Supervisor

 

 

For the last two weeks,  LSI has been flooded with email from Scott Hung Pham about his campaign for the June 4 special election.    Scott was elected to the Alum Rock Union School Board in 2010.   He abruptedly resigned in 2012 and cited personal reason for his departure.  Now he is putting his name in the ballot with 5 other candidates for the recently vacated District 2 supervisor seat.  

In his latest email, Scott espoused interesting statistics to support his chance of winning.  He declared that based on his experience, there will be about  15,000 votes casted in this special election.   There are 20,000 Vietnamese-American registered voters in District 2; thus, he claimed, in bold letters with red color highlight, he only needs 7501 votes to win. 

He emphasized if the Viet turnout is high, he will have a very good chance of winning the election outright.   To further remind the community to vote for him, he included a picture of himself standing next to  the convicted felon Ly Tong.

In District 2, there are about 120,000 registered voters with 55% of the electorate are Hispanics.  The Mercury News predicts this will be a two-woman race between Chavez and Alvarado.  

Since this has been a very low key election, the turn out will be undoubtedly low.  If Scott can mobilize the Vietnamese-American voters, he will have a good chance of upseting either Chavez or Alvarado and get into the run-off.  

But in the run-off,  Scott's chance of winning is zeal.  As a fringe candidate, he neither has the money nor the support of Hispanics, Whites or other Asian voters to win.

However,  LSI has to give him the credit for seizing the opportunity in a 6-person race and hoping for an upset.  And when your campaign is partly relying on the infamous Ly Tong to help get the votes, everything is unpredictable. 
 

Free Cell Phones and Services to Low Income Families

The federal government has been providing free cell phones and services of up to 250 minutes per month to low income families since 2008.  However, only recently the program is available in California.  

All California residents who receive food stamps, Medicaid, earn less than $14,702 in annual income or are enrolled in any of the federal and state programs for low income/disability are eligible for the Lifeline Assistance program, which offers a free cell phone along with free minutes and text messaging.

The deadline to submit the application to this specific carrier, Assurance Wireless,  is June 6, 2013

http://www.assurancewireless.com/Public/MorePrograms.aspx?utm_source=GoogleP&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=+free_+cell_+phones&utm_content=Free_-_BMMutm_campaign=Medium_Efficiency_-_NonBrand_-_DiscountNonBrand&gclid=CMz7hNOQqLcCFaYWMgodC3UA7Q&gclsrc=aw.ds


One can call in or print out the application for submission.  

Why Madison Nguyen Is So Hated in Little Saigon

The name Madison Nguyen conjures up controversy and a lot of hatred among the Vietnamese-Americans in Little Saigon San Jose and beyond.   That is quite a feat for a locally elected official.    And all of that could be felt in the grand celebration of "Little Saigon" existing signs last weekend at the Unity Center.   About one thousand people showed up for an all afternoon celebration marking the putting up of the "Little Saigon" exist signs along Highway 101 and Story Road.  Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Supervisor Dave Cortese, Assemblywoman Nora Campos and other elected officials were on hand to greeted the people.   

Not surprisingly,  Madison Nguyen did not show up even though the celebration was in her district, less than a mile from her house.   Her staff said she was not invited.    This was the second time within a month that she was snubbed by the local Vietnamese-American community leaders.   Last month, there was fund raising event for the signs and a dozen elected officials showed up including Congressman Mike Honda and 7 San Jose councilmembers. 

It is safe to say that the majority of the Vietnamese-American in the Bay Area don't really care for her and a lot of them wish that she would go away for she had brought shame to the community, in their opinions.  

However, they still have to her to kick around for another 2 years and of course the upcoming mayoral election in 2014.   Nothing will make the community happy than to take part in ending her political career. 

Here are some of the news relating to the events as reported by mainstream media

http://www.mercurynews.com/scott-herhold/ci_22710653/web-head

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/8544748-san-joses-little-saigon-receives-official-recognition/

DVAN and Holiday Literary Night

 

 

http://www.dvanonline.com/

Vigil Tree for Newtown, Connecticut

In remembrance of the victims of the tragedy in Connecticut, Supervisor Cortese’s office has partnered up with community leader Megan Williams, the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations, the Office of Women’s Policy, the Human Relations Commission, American Muslim Voice Foundation, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Santa Clara Valley, the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, Carry the Vision, and the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council to provide our community the opportunity to join together in honoring the victims of the Sandy Hook School shootings.

Community Vigil Tree:

A tree will be placed in the lobby of the County Government Center (70 W. Hedding St., San Jose) from December 20^th-31^st . We are asking community members to create paper ornaments in remembrance of the victims. We will provide the paper ornaments next to the tree where there will be pens for you to write and share your thoughts and well wishes and hang them on the tree.

Memorial Ceremony:

On Thursday, December 20^th from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, a brief memorial ceremony will be held in the East Wing of the County Government Center. We hope that you will join us in solidarity and spirit.

What: Tree Vigil for Connecticut families

When: December 20, 2012 at 6:00pm

Where: County Government Center, East Wing, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose

Tyler Diep Failed Bid to Gain His Old Seat

Wesminster City Council this week, appointed former mayor Margie Rice, 83, to the city council seat vacated by Tri Ta.   Tyler Diep was lobbying hard to have a special election so that he could use his $100,000 war chest to win back his city council post. 

He will have to wait until 2014 to try to win the election from either his nemesis Andy Quach or Margie Rice. 

Many Vietnamese-Americans in Little Saigon felt good riddance, first of former assybleman Van Tran and his lieutenant, Tyler Diep.  

There is a fresh air of politics in Little Saigon.   With Dina Nguyen unable to run in 2014 for city council in Garden Grove, the Van Tran's underlings are basically  either out of power or outright and some are distancing themselves from him.   Andy Quach told Quang Pham (the ex-congressional candidate in 2010) that he had not talked to Van Tran after his defeat and he and Van Tran are not close anymore.

So what is next for Wesminster politics -  Is there a pediastrian brigde on Bolsa Avenue in the near future?  This time Andy Quach and Ta Tri would not dare to vote against it.  Actually, Ta Tri was so afraid of Van Tran and Margie Rice that he called in sick on the voting day.   But now as a mayor, Ta Tri knows that the bridge will affect his dream of running for higher office in the future.  Andy Quach's political career is limited to city council so 2014 is a crucial election for him.