Amman, Jordan ? A man detained by U.S. authorities for carrying allegedly phony checks totaling $12 million as he arrived in Detroit is a wealthy computer salesman with no ties to any militant group, his Jordanian brother and an acquaintance said Sunday.

Jordanian-American Omar Abdul-Fatah Hamed Shishani, 47, was arrested after a U.S. Customs inspector found nine checks, believed to be counterfeit, during a search Wednesday when Shishani arrived on a flight from Indonesia, according to an affidavit authorities filed Thursday.

The FBI is investigating whether Shishani has ties to terrorist organizations, but his name is not on the American terrorist watch list, a Detroit law enforcement official said.

In Jordan, Ahmad Shishani said his brother has “absolutely no links at all with any terrorist group or al-Qaida,” the organization run by Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

“He leads a mundane life; he enjoys life; he often travels first class and he wears modern, western-style suits,” the younger Shishani told The Associated Press. Omar “would have entrusted one of his 16 brothers and sisters with his secret, if he had one,” he said of the investigation into Omar’s alleged links to Muslim militants.

He said his brother has never visited Afghanistan, but that he often traveled to Indonesia and Japan as part of his business in computer sales. He didn’t elaborate on his brother’s business.

Jordanian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shishani had no police record in Jordan. Such records are kept for citizens affiliated with militant Muslim groups, those who are politically active or who have violated laws in Jordan or abroad.

Shishani was born to a middle-class family in the minority Chechen community in Zarqa, 17 miles northeast of the capital, Amman. He immigrated to the United States 20 years ago, where he married an alien resident of Japanese origin. He holds both the Jordanian and American passports.

Abdul-Baqi Gammo, a former member of parliament and a Zarqa dignitary, said Shishani “isn’t a (Muslim) fundamentalist and it’s well known to every member of the community here that he’s not a devout Muslim.”

In Detroit, the law enforcement official, also insisting on anonymity, said only the amount of phony checks which Shishani was allegedly carrying have caused FBI officials to take notice.

Two of the checks found were for $5 million each; two were for $500,000 each; and five were for $200,000 each, the affidavit said. The checks, labeled “cashier check,” were purportedly issued by the Pomona, California, branch of West America Bank.