An official at Finland's Directorate of Immigration, who has been identified only as a middle-aged woman, has been remanded in custody on suspicion of taking bribes related to residence permits.

   

The official has been behind bars for more than a week, and has been suspended from her post.

   

The unusual case involves other suspects as well. The activities of more than ten people have been under investigation; the nationalities of the suspects have not been revealed.

The official has handled

residence permit applications, but was not in a position to make decisions on accepting or rejecting them. Police say that she is a secretary-level employee who has nevertheless been able to influence how quickly an application is processed.

   

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects that the bribe-taking began in early 2001 and ended in September this year when the investigation began.

   

Investigators do not believe that the suspect was the victim of blackmail.

   

The investigation is expected to take several months. Investigators plan to examine every residence permit application that the suspect has been involved in.

NBI investigators are giving few details

about the case. However, it is believed that the suspect received substantial financial benefits from her activities. The Finnish News Agency STT says that the figure may be in the tens of thousands of euros.

   

Matti Saarelainen, the director-general of the Directorate of Immigration, does not want to comment on the case while the police investigation is still going on.

   

A conviction for aggravated bribe-taking can bring a prison sentence of between four months and four years.