NEW DELHI, SEPT 8
Two days after 46-year-old former Goa minister Mickky Francisco Pacheco’s stout denial of any hand in the US immigration racket, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday registered a case against him and two others he helped to travel to America on allegedly forged documents.
The Benaulim MLA, who is out on bail since July 26 after 18 days in custody for allegedly murdering his close friend 28-year-old Nadia Torrado that forced him to resign from the ministry early June, has been charged with conspiracy, cheating, forgery and certifying forged documents to enable Pedro Antonio Joanes, Daniel Raymond Fernandes travel to the United States in 2007-08.
A CBI spokesman said the case names the former minister, Joanes, Fernandes and other unknown persons involved in the alleged migration racket unearthed by the US under Section 120-B read with 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Pacheco is charged with entering a criminal conspiracy to help Joanes, Fernandes and other unknown persons to help them obtain crew member’s visa from the United States Consulate in Mumbai on the basis of forged documents and to facilitate their travel to the United States.
The accused persons obtained the crew men employment letters with the help of Pacheco by paying hefty amounts, the CBI spokesman said, adding that further investigation are in progress.
The CBI acted on the basis of a formal complaint received from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security – a unit of the US State Department, that Pacheco may be involved in a massive immigration and money laundering racket.
Though the Benaulim MLA was quick to issue denial after the report appeared about his alleged role in the racket, the bureau is believed to have backed its allegation with documents and details of banking transactions. The CBI swung into action to register the case after finding substantive evidence against the former minister and those he helped shift to the United States through forgery.
