BI nabs three South Korean syndicate bosses

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested three of South Korea’s most wanted criminals, who are tagged as leaders of an online scam syndicate wanted for fraud cases worth a combined value of 10 billion won, or close to US$9 million.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the three fugitives were arrested on Tuesday in Parañaque City and Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija by operatives from the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) in coordination with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG’s) Major Crimes Investigation Unit.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the syndicate leaders as Jung Myunghun, 38, the alleged top leader; Yu Daewoong, 38, and Kang Wesung, 36.

“They will be deported to face the cases against them in Korea, and their names shall likewise remain in our blacklist, which effectively bans their re-entry in the country,” the BI chief said.

Morente said the three are high-profile fugitives wanted by Korean authorities and by the International Police.

According to the BI, criminal records show that the suspects carried out an online scam in South Korea by uploading and advertising items on online second-hand markets, duping victims into purchasing products that turned out to be non-existent.

Korean authorities uncovered 2,600 cases of victims defrauded by the suspects.

It is estimated that the victims incurred a combined loss of more than 10 billion won, or almost US$9 million, from the syndicate’s racket.

BI said the warrants for the suspects’ arrest were issued in August last year by the Jeju district court in South Korea.

If convicted, the three fugitives could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in jail for violating their country’s law against economic crimes.

Their passports have also been revoked by Korean authorities, making them undocumented aliens here in the country.

The three fugitives are temporarily detained at the CIDG headquarters, with pending results from their COVID-19 swab tests.

EDV