Boston Terror Plot May Be a Hoax Inspired by Revenge

The tipster who told federal officials about a potential terrorist plot involving Chinese and Iraqi immigrants may have fabricated the story out of revenge, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tipster may have been angry because a group of illegal immigrants had failed to pay for smuggling them into the U.S.

That scenario is one of many being examined in the case, said the official in Washington, who declined to describe the theories.

FBI agents have been looking into a tip that 16 people might be planning an attack on Boston. They include 13 Chinese nationals, two Iraqis and a man identified on the FBI’s website as Jose Ernesto Beltran Quinones, whose nationality was not given.

Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday that he had become less concerned about the threat since it was first reported Wednesday.

The original tip was received by the California Highway Patrol, according to another law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The tipster claimed that four of the Chinese -- two men and two women -- entered the U.S. from Mexico and were awaiting a shipment of “nuclear oxide.”