THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested a Korean fugitive as he was about to leave the country.

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, BI intelligence chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. identified the passenger as 31-year-old Ko Daeyun, who was apprehended at the NAIA Terminal 3 last April 25.

Manahan said Ko was about to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Seoul when he was accosted by operatives from the BI’s Border Control and Intelligence Unit (BCIU) at the airport.

It was learned that the suspect had just presented himself to a BI officer at the immigration departure counter when the latter noticed that the passenger’s name was on the BI’s watchlist of wanted foreign fugitives.

He is reportedly facing a deportation case before the BI Legal Division, where he was charged with “undesirability” due to his being a fugitive from justice.

Korean authorities have reportedly accused Ko of being a member of a telecommunications fraud syndicate that preys on its victims through voice phishing or using phone calls to gain access to a person’s money and other personal information.

It was alleged that Ko enticed a victim to give him his debit card from the former and was able to withdraw more than half a million Korean won, or nearly US$400,000, from October to December 2021 after promising the victim his money would earn interest in a lending business.

The suspect was arrested and read of his rights and is now in the custody of BCIU for eventual turnover to the Legal Division.

Ko is detained at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Jun I. Legaspi