Two arrested in student visa scheme for illegal immigrants

ATLANTA - The U.S. Attorney&#39;s Office is investigating two men involved in a student visa scheme that they say could be responsible for hundreds of illegal immigrants living in Atlanta, New York and Texas. <br> <br> A federal grand jury in Atlanta returned a 34-count indictment Thursday against 64-year-old Kennesaw resident Julu Kothapa -- a marketing professor at Morris Brown College -- and 38-year-old Syed Nusrat Ahmed of Lilburn. <br> <br> Officials said Friday that Ahmed was had no source of income aside from income generated by the alleged visa fraud scheme. <br> <br> Government officials say beginning in November 1997 and up to August 2001, Kothapa and Ahmed participated in a scheme to acquire F1 student visas. The men are accused of helping at least 17 aliens by providing false documentation to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, including false paperwork that the immigrants were students at Morris Brown College in Atlanta. The illegal immigrants paid as much as five thousand dollars to acquire the student visas. <br> <br> The investigation is ongoing, and officials say none of the illegal immigrants is believed to have any relationship to possible terrorism concerns. <br> <br> A trial date for both defendants has not yet been set.