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BI nabs Korean wanted in investment scam

Philippines | National

BI nabs Korean wanted in investment scam

By Jun Ramirez

The Bureau of Immigration has arrested a Korean fugitive wanted by authorities in his country for alleged involvement in a million-dollar investment scam.

(Unsplash / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the suspect, Soung Young Ho, 51, was arrested Tuesday in a joint operation by the BI Fugitive Search Unit and Korean authorities in Barangay Anunas, Angeles City, Pampanga.

Morente said Soung will be deported for being an undesirable alien as he is a wanted fugitive.

The BI chief said Soung is the subject of an International Police Organization red notice and his passport is already undergoing cancellation by the Korean government, making him an undocumented alien.

“We were also informed that a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Central District Court in Seoul where he was charged with large-scale fraud,” Morente said.

Records revealed that sometime in June 2015, Soung allegedly defrauded a compatriot of more than $1.1 million after inducing the victim to invest in a casino business that purportedly was going to start operation in Clark Field, Pampanga.

The suspect reportedly enticed the victim to give him 1.3 billion won as his supposed share in the business after being promised he would receive half of the profits or revenues that would be earned from the casino operations.

Soung reportedly received the money in 48 installments between August 2015 and September 2017. It turned out, however, that the business did not operate.

Prosecutors alleged that Soung did not intend to return the victim’s money as the profits that he said would be earned from the casino’s operation could not possibly be realized.

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