Julia Straker, a US State Department spokesperson, said that all visa applications are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the requirements of the US Immigration and Nationality Act and other applicable laws.

“The Department of State maintains extensive programs to vigorously combat visa fraud and investigates all allegations of such activity. The Department has broad authority, under Section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, to revoke visas based on information that comes to light at any time indicating that a visa holder may be inadmissible to the United States or otherwise ineligible for a visa,” she said.

Dan Hetlage, deputy director Media Division, Office of Public Affairs, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), explained that, before any individual is permitted to enter the United States, CBP checks all relevant national security and criminal databases to ensure that the applicant meets the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act for admission to the United States.

“If there is derogatory information about an individual, which may be developed through any number of ways, including information referred by other law enforcement or intelligence community partners, CBP may conduct additional screening to determine the individual’s admissibility to ensure the individual is not a national security or public safety risk,” he said.

However, none of the agencies responded to a question as to what steps, if any, are being taken to ensure that the new international airport nearing completion in St Vincent will not be used as a staging post in the Americas for Muslim extremists and/or terrorists transported by MaxAir 747s, especially in the light of the questionable relationship that may exist between Mangal and the St Vincent government.

Just over one year ago, the prime minister of SVG, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, was adamant that his administration would not allow a citizenship by investment programme (CIP) in that country, and expressed doubt about the level of due diligence being conducted by Caribbean countries offering that path to citizenship.

However, Gonsalves was accused by the BBC in 2013 of running, in effect, his own private citizenship programme, when British businessman Dave Ames was alleged to have bribed Gonsalves in order to gain SVG citizenship.

The BBC sent reporters to the Caribbean and later accused Gonsalves of accepting a “suitcase of money” from Ames in order to receive his citizenship.

Ames, who was the head of the financially troubled Harlequin Group, denied the accusations that he had paid Gonsalves money in return for citizenship in SVG, where Harlequin was developing a luxury resort.

Earlier this year, Gonsalves denied a statement by the US Treasury Department that a former Iranian national whose activities are being closely monitored had acquired SVG citizenship.