A South Korean woman wanted in her country for alleged involvement in investment scams has been arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Sunday, June 23.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement that the woman, whose name was withheld, was intercepted last June 18 at the NAIA Terminal 3 before she could board her flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.
“She will thus be deported for being an undesirable and undocumented alien after which she will be placed in our blacklist and banned from re-entering the country,” Tansingco said.
Aside from the blue notice issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the BI said "her passport was also reported as lost and stolen."
Based on Interpol's report, the BI said "the woman is suspected of defrauding in 2019 many of her compatriots in an investment scam wherein she was able to entice the victims to deposit their money into her own bank account.”
“The victims were promised huge returns on their investments which the suspect claimed she would use as capital for her money lending business,” the BI said.
“She reneged on her promised and the victims’ combined losses reportedly amounted to more than 385 million won, or roughly $277,000,” it added.
It also said that "from 2018 to 2019 the woman also duped 10 other victims with whom she opened a joint bank account after being promised they would recover their money, plus the interest, on a staggered basis every two months.”
“Instead, the suspect absconded with the victims’ money after the latter made an initial deposit of 60,000,000 won, or roughly $43,000,” it added.