PNP INTEL MEN APPREHEND JAPANESE WANTED FOR TELEPHONE SCAM
AN ‘intelligence packet’ developed by the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group enabled government agents to capture a 38-year old Japanese national tagged as a leader of a Cambodian-based telephone scam ring who fled to Manila in 2023.
PNP-IG director, Colonel Frankie C. Candelario said that the arrest of Yokota Tetsuya was triggered by information provided by members of the Foreign Intelligence Liaison Division to the Bureau of Immigration.
In a report to PNP chief, General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, the official said that the wanted Japanese national was apprehended in Ongpin Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila by members of the PNP-IG’s FILD and Technical Support Division, the Fugitive Search Unit of the BI and the Makati City Police Station around 1:50 p.m. last January 2.
The accused was placed under arrest on the strength of a BI Mission Order for violation of the Philippine Immigration Law, he being an undesirable alien.
A record check showed that Tetsuya escaped arrest by authorities in Cambodia in 2023 and fled to Manila after being tagged as the ‘brains’ of a big-time syndicate involved in a massive telephone scam specifically ‘phishing,” said Col. Candelario.
‘Phishing’ is a type of online scam that tricks people into giving away sensitive information in order for the syndicate to steal money or identity. The scammers usually send fake emails, texts or phone calls that appear to be from a legitimate source like a bank or government agency and later asks for personal information like passwords, credit card numbers or bank details.
These pieces of information are then used by the ring members to siphon off the bank deposits of their targets without the latter’s knowledge.
In the case of Tetsuya, the PNP-IG and the BI discovered that he is the subject of an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by a court in Omiya, Japan on May 31, 2024.
Japanese authorities reported that Tetsuya and his accomplices made a fraudulent phone call to their victim and falsely informed the latter that transferring the right to enter a nursing home is a crime.
The suspects later deceived the victim into giving them 2.75 million yen or roughly P1.04 million in cash via postal mail.
The Japanese national is now being held at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City pending his deportation to Japan. He has also been placed on the BI blacklist and perpetually banned from reentering the country for being an undesirable alien.
