Former Diplomat Mum in Visa Case

WASHINGTON — A former China-based U.S. diplomat and the State Department office that investigated him for possible visa fraud refused to discuss the case with a congressional committee Thursday.

However, Bonnie R. Cohen, undersecretary of State for management, told the lawmakers that now-retired Foreign Service officer Charles Matthew Parish was aggressively investigated in 1996 and that the inquiry “did not reveal criminal wrongdoing.”

Parish, subpoenaed to appear before the House Government Reform Committee, said he was following his attorney’s advice when he invoked the constitutional protection against self-incrimination.

Democratic Party fund-raiser Johnny Chien Chuen Chung told the same congressional committee in May that Parish helped him get visas for dozens of Chinese. Chung said he ended his relationship with Parish after the president of a Chinese beer company asked him to deliver “a shopping bag of money” to the then-consular officer.