Chinese nabbed for $242-M pyramid scam back home

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested one of China’s most wanted fugitives, a businessman accused of operating a multimillion-dollar investment scam and gambling racket that victimized more than 40,000 people in his country.

Zhang Fuhui, 26, was captured on Sunday by immigration authorities in one of the units of Solex II, a commercial building on Soler Street in Manila, following a request from the Chinese Embassy for his capture and deportation, according to BI Chief Siegfred Mison.

Two other Chinese nationals—Huang Zhen Xue and Liu Yung—were also arrested for failure to present travel documents when questioned by authorities.

Mison on Wednesday said Zhang’s arrest was pursuant to a summary deportation order issued by the BI’s board of commissioners on Jan. 21 citing the Chinese to be an undesirable alien.

According to the Chinese Embassy, Zhang has a pending arrest warrant in Huai An City in Jiangsu province, where he and his accomplices were charged with “economic crimes.”

Chinese authorities alleged that Zhang had conspired with other suspects to run a “pyramid scam” through a company called Bao Ma which advertised itself and raked in huge profits through a website in April 2012.

The scheme allegedly duped about 40,000 “investors,” whose combined losses amounted to at least 1.48 billion yuan ($242 million). A few months later, the suspects reportedly launched another website that invited gamblers to bet on its online games.

The new racket allegedly lured more than 4,000 online gamblers, whose total bets reached more than 61 million yuan, and earned the suspects 6.3 million yuan in profits.

Zhang would be sent back to China to face charges once the bureau had secured clearances for his deportation, BI acting intelligence chief Jose Carlitos Licas said Wednesday. He was also placed on the immigration blacklist.