Korean wanted for illegal gambling deported — BI

MANILA, Philippines — A Korean national wanted for operating an illegal gambling website has been sent back to his country to undergo prosecution, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported Tuesday.

The BI identified the foreign national as Jung Hyeongwook, 35. Jung was deported last Sept. 3 aboard a Philippine Airlines flight to Busan, South Korea. He was arrested upon his arrival.

Jung was wanted for violating his country’s national sports promotion act and was subject of a red notice issued by the Interpol last July 16.

BI Port Operations chief Grifton Medina said Jung surrendered to the Korean embassy in Manila after it canceled his passport. For his departure to Korea, Jung was issued a temporary travel document by the embassy.

 “I’ve recommended to Commissioner [Jaime] Morente that he (Jung) be placed in our blacklist to prevent him from re-entering the country,” Medina said in a statement.

The immigration bureau said that between October 2015 and March 2016, the Korean fugitive operated an illegal gambling website named “pony-ber1.com” which provided sports betting to its customers.

Jung and his cohorts allegedly collected betting money amounting to 6 million US dollars. He could be sentenced up to a maximum jail term of seven years, the BI said. /je