KOROR (Palau Horizon) — The Palau Supreme Court has convicted a Chinese national for bribing an immigration officer.
Chief Justice Arthur Ngiraklsong found Cheng Zhong Ping guilty of one count of bribery.
Cheng, who worked in Palau several years ago, was charged for bribing Immigration Officer Hosei Ignacio in exchange for allowing three Chinese nationals to board a Continental flight to Guam.
The three Chinese did not have proper documentation to enter Guam. Ignacio was charged separately and pleaded guilty to one count of bribery.
Sentencing for Cheng and Ignacio is set for July 24.
Cheng requested a speedy trial, saying he has to return to China for business purposes.
He was scheduled to leave Palau on June 22.
The Attorney General’s Office lauded the efforts of Immigration Officer Joe Giramusr and Criminal Investigation Division Investigators Aloysius Alonz, Lee Pedro and Willie Mays Towai in the prosecution of the case.
Two months ago, the Bureau of Immigration received a faxed message from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services saying that three nationals of the People’s Republic of China entered Guam without proper travel documents.
The three were on Continental flight CO 954 from Palau and were identified as Feng Li, Fen Qin Caen and Xiu Fung Lin.
