A South Korean fugitive wanted in his country for alleged telecommunications fraud was intercepted at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga last Monday, Jan. 8, before he could board his flight to Incheon, South Korea.

Immigration Commissioner Norman G. Tansingco identified the arrested fugitive as Lee Seunggon, 35 years old, who will be deported immediately.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that “a warrant of arrest was issued nearly a year ago againts Lee by the Suwon district court in Korea.”

 “An Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) red notice was also issued against him three months later which became the basis for the BI to slap him with a deportation case,” it said.

 It said that based on information from the South Korean government, "between March to May 2021 Lee was a member of a voice phishing syndicate that made random calls to victims to whom they introduced themselves as lenders of financial institutions.”

 “The syndicate reportedly enticed the victims to transfer money to the suspects’ bank accounts by falsely offering low interest rates in exchange for timely payment of outstanding debts and processing fees,” it also said. 

“We will deport Lee as soon as we have secured the necessary clearances for his departure,” Tansingco said.  

“He was already included in our blacklist to prevent him from reentering the country,” he added.