BI to deport, blacklist Korean swindler

MANILA, Philippines — A convicted Korean swindler who was recently arrested in Pampanga is set to be deported, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Sunday.

According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, operatives from the BI Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) arrested 48-year-old Chong Won Sok on November 27 inside the Clark Freeport zone in Angeles City.

Morente said that Chong’s arrest stemmed from a warrant “pursuant to a summary deportation order” that the BI Board of Commissioners issued against the Korean fugitive “for being an undesirable and undocumented alien.”

“We will include him in our blacklist to make sure that he does not return to the Philippines,” the Morente said in a statement.

He added that Chong “has been illegally staying here due to cancellation of his passport by the Korean government.”

Chong, according to BI intelligence officer Bobby Raquepo, has been hiding in the country since March of last year while prosecutors investigated the fraud charges against him.

“Last May 29, a Korean court sentenced him to one year in prison and he became the subject of an Interpol red notice after authorities learned that he had fled to the Philippines,” Raquepo said.

Meanwhile, Korean authorities said that Chong was convicted for “swindling nearly 35 million won from a compatriot in August 2016 by making his victim believe that he could work out a 2.2 billion loan for the latter’s housing construction project.”

“Instead of securing the promised loan, the suspect absconded with the victim’s money and fled Korea to evade the criminal complaint lodged against him,” the immigrations bureau said.

Chong was also previously convicted and served time in jail for other fraud charges in 2010 and 2013.

“He was immediately transferred to the BI Detention Center in Bicutan pending his deportation,” the BI added. /je