Fifteen Israelis were arrested Monday on suspicion of selling forged U.S. entry visas.
According to the police, four of the detainees were employees of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. The rest were go-betweens.
An embassy spokesman said visa procedures were changed immediately. There is no evidence that American employees were involved.
The ring was patronized by some visa applicants who had been turned down in the past.
The intermediaries who acted as liaisons between the visa buyers and the embassy workers allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars for their services.
Police said thousands of dollars were found in the suspects’ homes, as well as documents and passports stamped with forged entry visas.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
