A Japanese "fugitive" who is wanted in his country for alleged theft has been arrested on request by the government of Japan, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday, Jan. 23.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado identified the arrested Japanese as Tsukita Yuhei, 28, who arrived in the Philippines on March 16, 2019 and has not left since.
“We are deporting him for being an undesirable alien and his name will be included in our blacklist which would ban him from re-entering the country,” said Viado.
He said the Japanese was arrested by operatives of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) last Monday, Jan. 20, along Fields Avenue in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City.
The BI said it was informed that “a warrant for Yuhei’s arrest was issued by a Tokyo summary court on Oct. 27, 2022 after he was charged with theft in violating of Article 235 of Japan’s Penal Code.
“Japanaese authorities alleged that Yuhei and his accomplice stole over eight pieces of ATM cards by impersonating law enforcers in order to deceive their victims in surrendering their cards under the pretext of police investigation,” it said.
“Over 724,000 yen worth of cash, or more than $4,600, were allegedly stolen by the suspects through unauthorized withdrawals from the said stolen cards,” it added.