Government officials have detained 31 people who allegedly obtained US visas after paying a $10,000 bribe to consular officers in Qatar, a small country in the Persian Gulf region. The visas were issued during 2000 and 2001, mostly to Jordanian citizens but also to Pakistanis, Syrians and Bangladeshis. Officials have not said who was responsible for the fraud, but have revealed that it was a Jordanian national employed at the embassy.
The State Department began investigating the embassy last November, after an FBI agent received information about the fraud from an informant. One of those in detention is a Jordanian citizen who was a roommate of two of the September 11th hijackers. He was indicted on visa fraud charges last week and is being detained in Baltimore. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Two other recipients of the fraudulent visas are also believed to have contacts with Al-Qaeda.
Authorities are continuing to look for more than two dozen other people believed to have obtained their visas as part of the same scam. While officials have not yet been able to link any of the fraudulent visa recipients to additional crimes, they are investigating whether terrorists may have used the scheme to obtain visas.
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