The Bureau of Immigration ordered the deportation of a South Korean fugitive wanted for swindling nearly a hundred people in three Asian countries through telecommunications fraud that caused the victims to lose more than half a million dollars.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said operatives from the bureau’s fugitive search unit arrested Kim Youngin inside his unit at the One Rockwell condominium tower in Makati City.
“Kim no longer holds a valid passport because it was already canceled by the Korean government. He will thus be deported for being an undocumented and undesirable alien,” the BI chief said.
According to BI-FSU chief Bobby Raquepo, Kim is also an overstaying alien as he failed to extend his stay since he last arrived in the country as a tourist in August 2015.
Raquepo added that Kim was issued an arrest warrant by a Korean court after he was indicted for large-scale fraud and swindling.
Korean authorities alleged that Kim established and headed a voice phishing organization named “Hoon- yi” which engaged in telecommunications fraud in Incheon Korea; Weihai China and Cambodia from April 2012 up to March 2015.
By pretending to be a counselor of a company called D-REX that offered low-interest loans to prospective customers, Kim and his cohorts reportedly defrauded their victims in the said three countries of more than $530,000.
Investigation also revealed that the syndicate had a database with the personal information of their victims which they utilized to contact, deceive and entice their victims to give them money in exchange for processing their loan applications.
It was further alleged that the fraudsters resorted to voice phishing which enabled them to engage in identity theft and gain access to the private, personal, and financial information of their victims.