2 Americans wanted in US for fraud nabbed in Pampanga

MANILA, Philippines — Two Americans wanted by United States federal authorities for “large-scale fraud” were arrested by Bureau of Immigration agents in Pampanga.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Immigration intelligence officer Bobby Raquepo said on Sunday that Robert Wayne Boling Jr., 38, and Allan Albert Velarde Kerr, 30, had been under the wanted list of the bureau since July when a US district court in Western Texas issued their arrest warrants.

Both Boling and Kerr were charged in the US with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft, Raquepo added.

The two suspects have been acting in connivance with other suspects here and in the US.

According to the US Embassy, the two Americans are among the suspects who “fraudulently gained access to various US Department of Defense network systems and huge caches of documents which enabled them to acquire Personally Identifiable Information of thousands of US military servicemen.”

“The suspects thus obtained access to multiple types of multiple medical, financial and personal records, thus enabling them to change the demographic and financial information of unsuspecting military servicemen,” Raquepo said.

“As a result, they were able to use the stolen information to compromise and take over bank accounts after which the victims’ funds are moved through funnel accounts, withdrawn from various banks throughout the US and wired to the suspects and their accomplices in the Philippines via wire money transfers,” he added.

Raquepo further noted that, before being arrested last Aug. 7, the two Americans were also wanted for being overstaying in the Philippines.

Based on the data provided by the Bureau of Immigration, Boling has been in the Philippines since Aug. 26, 2011, while Kerr arrived on Dec. 1, 2006.

Melvin Mabulac, Immigration deputy spokesperson, said the bureau had started preparing the deportation cases of Boling and Kerr.

“They will be sent home to face trial for the crimes they allegedly committed,” Mabulac said. “Also, their continued presence here poses a risk to public safety and security.”

/atm