BUREAU of Immigration (BI) agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested an American national wanted by the Interpol and in South Korea for involvement in telecommunications fraud.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the passenger as 62-year-old Shin Seung Chul, who was intercepted last May 7 at the NAIA Terminal 1 before he could board a Philippine Airlines flight to Narita.
It was learned that the passenger was arrested after he presented himself for inspection to BI officer Andrew Joseph Gatchalian at the BI departure counter.
His name reportedly prompted a hit in the BI’s Interpol system showing that he is a wanted fugitive from justice in Korea.
Shin was later turned over to personnel of the BI-NAIA’s border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) who then brought him to the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa where he will remain while undergoing deportation proceedings.
According to the BI chief, Shin is subject of an Interpol red notice issued in 2016 which indicates that he is wanted for fraud in Seoul involving 572 million won, or roughly more than US$418,000.
Shin allegedly conspired with two other suspects in defrauding a victim of his money by employing a scheme known as voice phishing.
The suspects made phone calls to a compatriot and pretended they were officials of a large banking institution investigating a money laundering case as a result of which they were able the victim into depositing his funds into the suspects’ accounts.
A check of Shin’s travel record showed that he had been hiding in the country for more than seven years as his last record of arrival was on April 12, 2016. He arrived in the country months before a warrant and an interpol notice was issued against him.
“He will be sent to Korea as soon as our board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation. He will then be placed in our blacklist and banned from re-entering the Philippines,” Tansingco said.
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