This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Two officials at an Australian embassy in South Africa have reportedly been sacked amid an investigation into allegations that Nigerian nationals paid bribes for visas.

The Herald Sun reports that at least 21 Nigerians received Australian student visas, which a high-level investigation said were “tainted by the corrupt conduct of the department officers”.

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The paper said the Department for Home Affairs had confirmed that two non-citizens working at the Australian high commission in South Africa had been sacked.

The alleged scam involved criminals paying corrupt officials for Australian visas for Nigerian nationals. Officials were accused of bypassing mandatory checks and granting visas within days to people deemed by Australia to be high risk.

The 21 visas were processed between February and April last year, according to an administrative appeals tribunal document. They were “identified by the department as being tainted by the corrupt conduct of the department officers”, the AAT decision read.