Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives have arrested a South Korean national wanted by his government for telecom fraud.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said 47-year-old Kim Tae Ho was picked up on Wednesday in his home in Novaliches, Quezon City by members of the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU).
“The South Korean government informed us about his presence in the country and requested that he be deported due to the fraud charges that were filed against him in his country,” the BI chief said.
He said Kim will be expelled for being an undesirable and undocumented alien as his passport was already revoked by the Korean government.
“We will also place him in our blacklist to prevent him from re-entering the Philippines,” Morente said.
According to FSU chief Rendel Sy, Kim is the subject of a standing warrant of arrest issued by the Gwangju District Court in Korea.
He is allegedly a member of a syndicate that defrauded its victims through voice phishing which is done wherein the suspects would impersonate a bank teller and entice victims to deposit their money, allegedly in exchange for loans that they would get at very low interest.
Authorities said the victims lost more than ₩3.8 billion (Korean won) or roughly US$3.2 million from the syndicate's operations between September 2012 to July 2013.
Kim is presently detained at the BI detention center in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending his deportation.