BI nabs Israeli wanted for large-scale fraud, investment scam in Germany

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced the arrest of an Israeli national facing 200 complaints filed by German victims for a string of fraud cases which he perpetrated through a multi-million-euro investment scam.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said 43-year-old Kfir Levy is now in the BI’s custody following his arrest on Friday, along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City by operatives from the Bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).

ADVERTISEMENT

Morente said he issued the mission order for the Levy’s arrest at the request of German authorities which informed the BI about the fugitive’s crimes.

His syndicate’s alleged modus is claimed to have incurred combined losses of more than 6.3 million euros.

“Two weeks ago, we received information from German authorities about the charges against him,” said Morente. “Now that we have him in custody, we will proceed with the deportation proceedings so he may be deported and blacklisted from the country for being an undesirable alien,” the BI Chief added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Morente described the Israeli as a high-profile fugitive who is a subject of two arrest warrants issued by German courts in February last year due to his involvement in the activities of a fraud syndicate that preyed on hundreds of unsuspecting victims between 2016 and 2019.

The first warrant was issued on February 13, 2020 by the Bamberg District Court in Bavaria while the second one, which is a European arrest warrant, was issued four days later by a local court, also in Bamberg.

BI nabs Israeli wanted for large-scale fraud, investment scam in Germany

A warrant of arrest was issued against the subject by the District Court Bamberg in Bavaria, Germany on February 13, 2020, and a European Arrest Warrant issued by a local court in Bamberg, Germany on February 17, 2020 for Commercial Fraud, Criminal Organization/Association/Group, in violation of Sections 129, 263, 25 and 53 of the German Penal code.

ADVERTISEMENT

BI-FSU Acting chief6 Rendel Ryan Sy disclosed that Levy is already an overstaying alien as he has not left the country since he arrived as a tourist on January 30 last year.

Sy said the Israeli, who faces 10-year imprisonment if convicted, is accused of being a member of a criminal syndicate that operated trading platforms on the Internet and committed large-scale fraud by persuading customers, through telephone calls and e-mails, to invest large sums of money with a false promise of high profit returns.

Levy is presently detained at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending his deportation.

Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.