Reply #3: U.S. diplomat charged with taking bribes for visas (Reuters) [View All]

[Up2Late]

(22 year State Dept Veteran... Hummm, that would be a Reagan appointee.)

U.S. diplomat charged with taking bribes for visas

Fri Aug 25, 2006 05:27 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. diplomat was charged on Friday with accepting trips with exotic dancers, jewelry and entertainment in exchange for issuing visas to 21 people linked to an international jewel distributor. U.S. Foreign Service officer Michael O'Keefe, 59, and international jeweler Sunil Agrawal were indicted by a grand jury in Washington on three counts of conspiracy and bribery.

O'Keefe, a 22-year State Department veteran who was working at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto as the deputy non-immigrant visa chief, was arrested on Thursday in Washington, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Agrawal remains at large.

The indictment said between 2004 and 2006 Agrawal gave round-trip airline tickets to O'Keefe and two exotic dancers to travel to New York and Las Vegas. Agrawal paid for hotels, expensive meals and entertainment during the trips.

Agrawal also gave O'Keefe jewelry, other gifts and a job reference, the indictment said. In exchange, O'Keefe helped expedite visa requests for employees of Agrawal's company, STS Jewels Inc. He issued visas to 21 people sponsored by Agrawal.

(more at link) <http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=13299164&src=rss/domesticNews>