Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have intercepted a Chinese national wanted in his country for alleged involvement in illegal online gambling.
The departure of the Chinese national, whose name was withheld, was immediately reported by BI to its counterpart in China.
"He was arrested upon arrival at the Xiamen airport as Chinese authorities were already informed about his arrival," BI's International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Acting Chief Jaime Bustamante said.
BI said that the fugitive is a member of a criminal syndicate that operates illegal online gambling sites which are strictly prohibited under Chinese laws. The websites run by the man and his cohorts contain a lot of schemes that cheat its customers, which is how they make a profit, it said.
It is estimated that more than 20,000 Chinese customers were victimized by the syndicate which allegedly earned more than 100 million yuan, or roughly US$13 million, from the fraudulent scheme.
Meanwhile, another Chinese national wanted by authorities in Beijing for financial fraud was arrested by the BI last April 15 in Binondo, Manila.
BI identified the arrested foreigner as Qiu Jiajian, 52. He was included in the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) for issuing falsified special value-added tax (VAT) invoices in violation of China’s Criminal Code, it said.
Qiu reportedly used the name of an import-export trading firm in Quanzhou and other shell companies to falsely issue over 200 special VAT invoices for non-existent goods valued at more than 26 million yuan, or roughly US$3.5 million, thus defrauding the Chinese government of tax revenues.
Armed with a mission order from BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco who issued it at the request of the Chinese government, FSU agents arrested Qiu and detained him at the BI facility in Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
BI-FSU Acting Chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Qiu has been ordered arrested by the Licheng sub-bureau of the public security bureau in Quanzhou, China. While Qiu is considered a fugitive from justice, he will also be deported for being an overstaying and undocumented alien as his Chinese passport already expired on Sept. 8, 2023. He will also be blacklisted and banned from re-entering the Philippines.