Halim Khan's wife still in custody
Radha Khan, the spouse of Halim Khan, was up to yesterday still in police custody with her lawyers still being refused access to her at the La Penitence Police Station. She was taken into custody at the weekend for questioning by the task force which is assisting the US embassy investigate the scale and scope of the visa sale ring which was uncovered in March. Two cars were taken from her Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Bank Demerara home. Her relatives have complained that her detention was causing severe hardship for her one-year-old child who is now deprived of both his mother and father. Radha Khan's husband, Halim Khan, and the embassy's Economic Affairs Officer, Thomas Carroll are implicated in the ring and are before a federal court in Chicago, Illinois facing charges of visa fraud, producing false visas and bribery. They were arrested in the US on March 17 and are being held without bail. Basil Williams, who represents Eton Cordis who was detained earlier this month by the task force, had expressed concern that his client was interrogated by federal investigators while in custody and despite his client's request that he should be present. Cordis was detained for two days and released on $50,000 bail but no charges have been laid against him. The task force was set up after the Guyana government agreed to aid the US authorities in the investigation into the visa sale ring and, according to Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, will look into any collateral illegality in which Guyanese or non-Guyanese nationals have been involved. Carroll is believed to have used the premises of a popular downtown Chinese restaurant to recruit clients and Gajraj has told Stabroek News that his ministry would revoke the status of any registered alien who has been involved in wrongdoing.
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