The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have intercepted a South Korean fugitive wanted by authorities in Seoul for involvement in illegal gambling.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, BI Port Operations Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong identified the passenger as 31-year-old Lee Taeyang, who was apprehended last Friday, after attempting to depart via a Philippine Airlines flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Lee was later brought to the BI Detention Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation, Capulong said.
Capulong bared that the passenger is subject of an arrest warrant issued by a South Korean court and of a red notice from the Interpol.
It was reported that Lee was stopped from leaving after the immigration officer who processed him saw that his name had registered a positive hit in the BI-Interpol’s derogatory system.
The hit indicated that Lee was in possession of a passport that was cancelled by the South Korean government due to his status as a fugitive from justice.
Information provided by the Interpol’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Manila bared that Lee is wanted for conspiring with other suspects in setting various gambling sites on the Internet.
BI intercepts Korean wanted for illegal gambling at NAIA
The said sites, which were set up between December 2018 and January 2019, allegedly enabled bettors to bet on the results of various foreign and domestic sports competitions, such as soccer, volleyball and baseball.
Bettors were told to deposit their money in the syndicate’s bank accounts from which they earned profits amounting to more than 4 billion won or roughly US$33.6 million.
A warrant for Lee’s arrest was issued by the Cheonglu District Court on December 17, 2020, after he was charged for violating his country’s National Sports Promotion Act.
Last month, BI reported the arrest of two South Korean fugitives in Makati and Pampanga.
Arrested on Friday is 56-year-old Kang Mingyu, who was caught hiding in his condominium unit in Makati City by operatives from the Bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).
According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, a warrant was issued for the Korean’s arrest pursuant to a summary deportation order that the BI Board of Commissioners issued against Kang in 2020 for being an undesirable alien.
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