WASHINGTON: A US Navy Reserves commander now living in Italy faces charges of bribery and visa fraud over a bribery scheme to get special United States visas for Afghan nationals, reported Sputnik.
“A Florida man who serves as a commander in the US Navy Reserves appeared today on criminal charges related to an alleged bribery scheme involving special visas for Afghan nationals,“ the State Department said in a press release on Friday.
According to court documents, Jeromy Pittmann, 53, of Pensacola, Florida, currently residing in Naples, Italy, was paid to draft, submit or falsely verify false letters of recommendation for citizens of Afghanistan who applied to the State Department for Special Immigrant Visas, the release said.
“Pittmann is alleged to have signed over 20 false letters in which he represented, among other things, that he had supervised the applicants while they worked as translators in support of the US Army and NATO; that the applicants’ lives were in jeopardy because the Taliban considered them to be traitors ... Pittmann is alleged to have received thousands of dollars in bribes,“ the release added.
Pittmann made his initial appearance today. He is charged with accepting bribes and conspiring to commit visa fraud. If convicted of both counts, he faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the release.-Bernama
