BI nabs Taiwanese woman wanted for $7M swindle
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced the arrest of a Taiwanese woman wanted by authorities in Taipei for swindling a compatriot of more than US$7 million dollars two years ago.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) identified the fugitive as 31-year-old Li You-Ci, who was arrested last Wednesday in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Li was earlier reported to have been rescued by policemen from kidnappers in Parañaque City. However, upon check of her records, it was discovered that Li is an alien fugitive wanted in Taiwan.
A team of BI-FSU operatives arrested Li on the strength of a mission order that Morente issued at the request of the Taiwanese authorities.
According to BI-FSU acting chief Rendel Ryan Sy, Li is subject of an outstanding arrest warrant issued in April last year by the Kinmen District Prosecutor’s Office in Taiwan.
Sy said the woman was charged with fraud before the said court for allegedly defrauding a victim of more than 200 new Taiwan dollars, or more about US$7.1 million, in an investment scam.
Li reportedly enticed the victim to invest in a business which turned out to be fake after which she absconded with the money and fled to the Philippines.
A check of the BI’s travel database revealed that Li is already an overstaying for more than two years as she had hidden in the country since August 2019 when she last arrived in Manila as a tourist.
He will thus be charged with a deportation case for being an overstaying and undesirable alien, Sy added.
