BI to deport 2 Koreans wanted for telecom fraud

This undated photo shows the facade of the Bureau of Immigration’s main office in the city of Manila. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines —The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday said that it is set to deport two South Korean fugitives who are wanted in their home country for telecom fraud.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the wanted nationals as Kim Youngsoo and Choi Youngsoo, both 38 years old, who were arrested on Feb. 14 by operatives of BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) in Barangay Baudugo, Angeles City.

According to the FSU acting chief Rendel Ryan Sy, a deportation order against the foreign nationals was already issued by the BI board of commissioners in 2015, after South Korean authorities informed the BI of their crimes.

Records also showed that the two Koreans, having arrived together in Manila on Dec. 13, 2015, are already overstaying.

Their passports have also been canceled already by their government, making them undocumented aliens.

The Interpol’s national central bureau (NCB) in Manila also revealed that both Kim and Choi are subjects of arrest warrants issued by the Busan district court in South Korea.

The NCB said that the court charged the two with colluding with three other individuals to run a voice phishing operation out of Bangkok, Thailand, which preyed on many of their Filipino compatriots from March to June 2015.

The suspects allegedly broke into computers and obtained personal information about their victims, whom they then called pretending to be bank personnel.

Combined losses incurred by the victims reportedly amounted to more than 196.5 million won or roughly US$164,000.

The BI said that both aliens are now presently detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending the implementation of the deportation order.

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JPV