A 45-year-old Pakistani man was ordered held without bail on federal bribery and visa fraud charges yesterday, becoming the second person authorities have connected to a visa scheme operated out of a U.S. embassy in the Persian Gulf.

Zia Ullah Hameedullah appeared briefly at a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, a day after entering the country in federal custody. Another hearing has been scheduled for Monday.

Hameedullah is the second person charged in the scheme, joining Ramsi Al-Shannaq, who has been held in federal custody since his high-profile arrest in July.

Al-Shannaq, a Jordanian citizen, has acknowledged living with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers in Virginia. A hearing in his case is scheduled for Nov. 22.

Federal authorities said in court papers filed yesterday that two employees of the U.S. embassy in Qatar sold 71 fraudulent visas in 2000 and last year. Both employees, who have not been identified, admitted their role in the scheme, the documents show.

Authorities allege that Hameedullah acted as a middleman and recruiter, shuffling paperwork between customers and the embassy employees.

Hameedullah admitted to federal agents that he earned between $5,500 and $8,300 in the scheme last year, court papers show. He sold each visa for $4,945, keeping $824 and giving $4,121 as a bribe to an embassy employee, officials allege.

Hameedullah was being held in Qatar on unrelated local charges. He requested deportation to the United States, officials said. He arrived Wednesday.