Case 1:12-mj-00330-JFA Document 2

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE [p

EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

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Alexandria Division

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

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Case Number l:12-MJ-330

QUAN ANH NGUYEN,

Defendant,

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) )

AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AND ARREST WARRANT

Your Affiant, Tai N. Pham. having been duly sworn, does hereby depose and state:
1. I am a Special Agent with the Diplomatic Security Service ("DSS"), U.S.

Department of State (DOS). I am a DSS Special Agent assigned to the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"), Document and Benefit Fraud

Task Force ("DBFTF"), Washington, D.C. I have been in this position since April 2008 and with DOS since October 2002. I am a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Criminal Investigator Training Program, and received additional training at the DSS Training Center. I have a bachelor's degree from the Pennsylvania State University in State
College, Pennsylvania.

2.

As a Special Agent, I conduct official criminal investigations, primarily involving

passport and visa-related immigration fraud and identify theft crimes.

3.

This affidavit is submitted in support of a criminal complaint and arrest warrant

for Quan Anh NGUYEN, and is based on information obtained through personal observation, statements of witnesses, information supplied to me by other law enforcement officers, and
1

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information obtained through the use of law enforcement computerized databases. 4. This affidavit contains information necessary to support probable cause for this

criminal complaint and arrest warrant. This affidavit is notintended to include each and every
fact and matter observed by me or known to the government.

5.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) establishes the types of visas

available fortravel to the United States andwhat conditions mustbe met before an applicant can be issued a particular classification of visa. Pursuant to the INA, a foreign national desiring to
enter the United States temporarily for business (B-l) or for pleasure, tourism or medical treatment (B-2) may apply for a non-immigrant visitor visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

These visitor visas are collectively known as B1/B2 visas and can be obtainedonly through an
application and an oral interview with a U.S. DOS Officer at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. 6. The INA also establishes visa ineligibilities that make a visa applicant ineligible

for a visa in certain situations. In addition, the INA contains provisions for certainineligible
applicants to apply for waivers of their ineligibility. The INA, in part, states the grounds of

ineligibility for non-immigrant visas to include a prior conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). Additionally, with limitedexceptions, all visa applicants are presumed to be

immigrants ("intending immigrants") unless and until they satisfy the consular officer that they
qualify for one of the nonimmigrant visa categories defined in INA section 101(a)(15). Per section291 of the INA, the burden of proof is on the applicant. If a non-immigrant visa

applicant does notmeet this burden of proofto the satisfaction of the consular officer, then by
law the alien is considered to be an applicant for immigrant status and should not receive a
nonimmigrant visa.

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7.

Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1546(a) states in part: "Whoever knowingly forges,

counterfeits, alters, or falsely makes any immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, permit, border

crossing card, alien registration receipt card, or other document prescribed by statute or
regulation for entry into or as evidence of authorized stay or employment in the United States, or utters, uses, attempts to use, possesses, obtains, accepts, or receivesany such visa, permit, border

crossing card, alien registration receipt card, or other document prescribed by statute or
regulation for entry into or as evidence of authorized stay or employment in the United States, knowing it to be forged, counterfeited, altered, or falsely made, or to have been procured by means of any false claim or statement, or to have been otherwise procured by fraud or unlawfully
obtained; ... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 25 years (if the offense
was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of this

title)), 20 years (ifthe offense was committed to facilitate a drug trafficking crime (as defined in
section 929 (a) of this title)), 10 years (in the case of the first or second such offense, if the

offense was not committed to facilitate such an act of international terrorism or a drug trafficking
crime), or 15 years (in the case of any other offense), or both."

8.

On August 11,2008, Quan Anh NGUYEN executed a non-immigrant visa (NIV)

application (DS-156) at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam for the purpose of obtaining a
B1/B2 visa to visit the United States. In section38, the application asked "Have you ever been

arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty or other similar legal action?" NGUYEN answered "No" to this question. NGUYEN appeared before a consular officer, who is authorized to issue NIVs to eligible applicants, at the U.S Embassy,
Hanoi, Vietnam, for his interview pertaining to his DS-156 application and swore that all

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questions were answered truthfully. NGUYEN'S DS-156 was subsequently refused on the
grounds that NGUYEN was an "Intending Immigrant."

9.

OnDecember 20,2011, NGUYEN executed an online NIV application (DS-160),

forthe purpose of obtaining a B1/B2 visato visitthe United States. In the "Security and

Background" section, the application asked "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any
offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty, or other similar action?" NGUYEN

answered "No" to this question. Additionally, when electronically signing and submitting the
application to the Department of State, NGUYEN certified that he had read and understood the

questions in the application and affirmed that the answers provided were true and correct to the best of his knowledge. NGUYEN subsequently appeared, accompanied with a translator, before

a consularofficer, who is authorizedto issue NIVs to eligible applicants, at the U.S. Consulate,
Frankfurt, Germany, for his interview pertaining to his DS-160 and swore that all questions were answered truthfully. NGUYEN's DS-160 application was subsequently refused on the grounds
that NGUYEN was an "Intending Immigrant." 10. On January 11,2012, Quan Anh NGUYEN executed another online NIV

application for the purpose of obtaining a B1/B2 visa to visit the United States. In the "Security
and Background" section, the application asked "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for

any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty, or other similar action?"

NGUYEN answered "No" to this question. Additionally, when electronically signing and
submitting the application to the Department of State, NGUYEN certified that he had read and

understood the questions in the application and affirmed that the answers provided were true and

correct to the best of his knowledge. NGUYEN subsequently appeared before a consular officer,

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who is authorized to issue NIVs to eligible applicants, at the U.S. Embassy, Berlin, Germany, for
his interview pertaining to his DS-160 andswore thatall questions were answered truthfully,
using a translator. As a result of his online application executed on January 11,2012,

NGUYEN's DS-160 application pertaining to the B1/B2 visawas subsequently approved on

January 19,2012, and issued on January 23,2012 in Berlin, Germany. 11. On February 23,2012, NGUYEN arrived at the Washington Dulles International

Airport, within the Eastern District of Virginia, and applied for admission to the United States.

At primary inspection, NGUYEN presented his Vietnamese Passport, containing the B1/B2 visa he had obtained in Berlin, Germany, to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") officer
who was conducting his inspection. Database record checks performed by CBP officers revealed that NGUYEN had an active Interpol (International Police) Red Notice and was wanted by the
Vietnamese Police for "abusing positions and powers while performing official duties" and
"defrauding citizen's property" as stated in the Penal Code of Vietnam. NGUYEN was referred
to secondary inspection to be interviewed. During the interview, which was conducted with the

assistance of a Vietnamese interpreter, NGUYEN admitted to CBP officers that, in 1999, he had
been arrested and convicted in Vietnam for fraud. NGUYEN did not disclose this information

on the application for his B1/B2 visa or when interviewed by Department of State consular officers pertaining to his August 11,2008, DS-156 application, December 20, 2011 DS-160

application, or his January 11,2012, DS-160 application. Also, NGUYEN neither applied for

nor was granted any waivers for his crime involving moral turpitude to overcome his ineligibility
regarding his 1999 arrest. Furthermore, NGUYEN admitted to CBP officers that he was

currently facing charges in Vietnam for real estate fraud.

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12.

NGUYEN was determined by CBP to be inadmissible to the U.S. based on his

admission that he hadcommitted a crime involving moral turpitude; because he hadcommitted

fraud and willful misrepresentation; and for being an intending immigrant without an immigrant
visa. NGUYEN's B1/B2 visawascancelled by CBP and he was processed for expedited

removal from the United States. CBP transferred NGUYEN to the custody of U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be detained in administrative custody.

13.

OnMarch 12,2012, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and DSS agents

interviewed NGUYEN at the ICE office in Fairfax, Virginia, regarding his visa application
process. During the interview,NGUYEN stated that although someone else prepared the visa

application for him, he did understand the questions and electronically signed the application. NGUYEN statedthat prior to his departure from Germany to the U.S., one of his employees
gave him a copy of the visa application that had handwritten translations from English to Vietnamese for the questions listed on the visa application. This copy was found in NGUYEN's

luggage. When asked whetherNGUYEN understood all the questionson the visa application,
NGUYEN stated, "Yes." Agents then asked NGUYEN whether he was ever arrested for the

offense in 1999, and he answered "Yes." NGUYEN admitted to agents that the reason he
answered "No" on his NIV applications regarding his 1999 arrest was because he believed the
arrest to be a civil matter and not criminal. NGUYEN was shown the DS-160 that he executed

and the question that asked, "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or
crime?" NGUYEN stated to agents that he understood that he made a false statement in his NIV
applications.

14.

Based on the information provided in this affidavit, probable cause exists to

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believe that on orabout February 23, 2012, QUAN ANH NGUYEN willfully used a B1/B2 visa,

knowing it to have been procured by means ofa false statement, and attempted to gain entry into
the United States at the Washington Dulles International Airport, in violation of Title 18, United

States Code, Section 1546(a). Accordingly, I request that this Court issue a Criminal Complaint
charging him with this violation, as well as an Arrest Warrant authorizing his arrest.

Tai N. Pham

Special Agent U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service

SUBSCRIBED AN

BEFORE ME THIS

OF May, 2012

iK

WORN TO hDAY

/S/.
hn J; Anderson

3A

Jnited States Magistrate Judge Alexandria, Virginia