MANILA, Philippines — Two South Korean nationals will be deported after being apprehended for violating the game industry promotion rules of their home country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Friday.
The suspects, identified as 28-year-old Lee Jongjin and 40-year-old Chae Kwangbeom, were arrested on Thursday by the bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) inside their residence at Clark Hills Subdivision In Angeles City, Pampanga.
“We will deport them for being undocumented aliens as their passports were already cancelled by the Korean government. They are also undesirable aliens for being fugitives from justice who pose a risk to public safety and security,” BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.
Based in the Philippines, the suspects victimized many South Korean nationals through the operation of an illegal online game, the BI said.
BI-FSU chief Bobby Raquepo said Lee and Chae allegedly operated three private online servers in Angeles City after falsifying the interface adapter of a registered online game called “Lineage 1.”
“Lineage 1, which was manufactured by NC Soft Corporation is very popular among Koreans and these enabled the suspects to receive huge sums of cash from unsuspecting subscribers by converting their game money called ‘adena’,” BI said.
Initial investigation following the arrest showed that the suspects have been operating in the country as early as January this year.
According to the BI, two other South Korean nationals also allegedly involved in the scam are now being tracked down by Immigration agents. /muf