Diplomatic Security Agents Named 2006 Investigators of the YearBureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of StateWashington, DC October 27, 2006 Contact: Kendal Smith Special Agents Donovan F. Williams and Kendall R. Beels Honored for Major Bust of New York City Sham Marriage and Visa Fraud Ring
In 2005, with evidence of a larger conspiracy, Special Agents Williams and Beels resurrected a stalled investigation by developing intermediate information critical to reviving the investigation of the primary target. By February 2006, Williams and Beels had a guilty plea and cooperation agreement from a highly-placed co-conspirator. Through the next months, Williams and Beels culled volumes of data from immigration records in New York, visa application records in U.S. consulates throughout China, and state and city marriage records throughout the United States. Even with that workload, they kept close track of the primary co-conspirators through diligent use of various law enforcement techniques. On August 23, 2006, nearly all the co-conspirators were arrested in pre-dawn raids conducted across four states and four Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) field office jurisdictions. Williams and Beels drafted the operational plans, coordinated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, briefed over 50 participating law enforcement agents and officers, and executed a flawless arrest sweep of the highly elusive targets. It was the largest arrest operation of the calendar year at the DSS New York Field Office and by far the most successful. Multiple search warrants executed the same day yielded evidence of illicit gains in the millions of dollars. This was a long, complicated, frequently interrupted investigation that agents Williams and Beels picked up, re-energized, and turned into one of the largest case and arrests of 2006. This operation is acknowledged for its national implications by DSS. "Marriage fraud and visa fraud crimes potentially threaten the national security of the United States," said Joe D. Morton, Director of the Diplomatic Security Service. ‘The U.S. visa is one of the most coveted travel documents in the world and foreign nationals who have acquired visas fraudulently to enter the United States could perpetrate further illegal acts to include terrorism. Americans who marry strangers make the United States more vulnerable to terrorism, plain and simple." |