AN overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was about to board a flight to Jeddah was intercepted by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers on Tuesday morning for misrepresentation.

Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the OFW, who was victimized by an unscrupulous agency, presented documents stating that she was 24 years old.

“However, it was apparent in her demeanor that something was off,” said Tansingco. “She was obviously younger than her present age,” he added.

The victim was able to present a passport with a valid working visa stating that she was 24 years old. However, officers were able to discover that the birth certificate she carried was altered.

Current policies require household service workers (HSW) working in the Middle East to be at least 24 years old.

“The immigration officer who processed her passport doubted the authenticity of the supporting document, and submitted it for tertiary check to our forensic documents laboratory,” said Tansingco. “There we were able to confirm that the year of birth and other details in the birth certificate were altered,” he added.

Despite this, the victim was able to secure identification documents and a visa.

Tansingco shared that the victim, who hails from Sultan Kudarat, was unable to read or write, which may have been abused by her recruiters to make her agree to the scheme.

Meanwhile, four Japanese nationals wanted in their home country have successfully been deported by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday.

The four Japanese identified as Fujita Kairi, 24; Kumai Hitomi, 25; Terashima Haruma, 28; and Sato Shohei, 32 boarded a Japan airlines flight to Narita after having been tagged as undesirable aliens by the BI.

Fujita and Kumai were arrested by operatives of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) on March 10 in Paranaque City. The two have standing arrest warrants issued by the Tokyo Summary Court in September 2022 for theft in violation of the Japanese Penal Code. Both were suspected to be involved in the ‘Luffy’ case that previously made headlines in Japan for committing a string of violent crimes in Tokyo.

Terashima was intercepted at the BI’s Satellite office in SM Aura, Taguig last February 28 following an attempt to extend his tourist visa. Terashima faces a similar case in Japan, after reportedly impersonating a police officer and an employee of the Japan Ministry of Finance to steal ATM cards.

Sato, on the other hand, is also wanted in Japan for theft and was arrested on April 24 by FSU officers on Newport Blvd. in Pasay City.