The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced the arrest of a South Korean fugitive wanted by authorities in Seoul, South Korea for engaging in telecommunications fraud.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the arrested fugitive as 40-year-old Byun Jonghyun, who was arrested December 18 in Brgy. Balibago, Angeles City, Pampanga by operatives from the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).
Tansingco said Byun will be deported immediately as an order for his summary deportation was already issued by the BI Board of Commissioners last September.
He was already placed in the immigration blacklist and banned from re-entering the Philippines for being an undesirable alien, the BI Chief added.
According to BI-FSU Acting Chief Rendell Ryan Sy, Byun is also the subject of an Interpol red notice issued in April 2020.
The said notice stemmed from an arrest warrant issued against the Korean by the Seoul Central District Court, where he was charged with violating his country’s telecommunications business act.
Korean authorities alleged that Byun is a member of an organized crime syndicate based in Manila, that defrauds their compatriots back home by engaging in voice phishing operations.
It is estimated that the syndicate’s earnings from the racket already amounted to more than 674 million won or roughly half a million dollars.
South Korean arrested over alleged phishing – BI
Byun is now detained at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City while awaiting his deportation to Korea.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that immigration officers assigned at different international airports processed a total of 31,992 arrivals on December 24.
Majority of the international passengers arrived via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), with Terminal 1 welcoming 10,047 passengers, while Terminals 2 and 3 welcoming 4,646 and 12,615 travelers respectively.
Meanwhile, the BI reported processing a total of 22,248 departures on Christmas Eve.
Tansingco assured the public that while lines are expected due to the worldwide increase in international travel, passengers are expeditiously processed.
“All counters are fully manned, our e-gates are being utilized, and we have a special team of officers ready to augment manpower as needed,” said Tansingco. “The implementation of the eTravel system also significantly decreases the paper requirements of arriving passengers,” he added.
Tansingco stated that they see the increase in travelers as a positive sign that tourism is on the rebound.
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