A Chinese fugitive who was intercepted by Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is now in the hands of Chinese authorities in Beijing.
The 56-year-old suspect, identified as Yao Kunmin was allowed to board the aircraft, with Chinese authorities already waiting for his arrival. Upon the aircraft’s landing, he was immediately arrested by Chinese policemen who were waiting for him at the Wuxi airport, according to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente.
Yao is wanted by authorities in Beijing for his involvement in a big-time pyramid investment scam.
“Upon interception, the BI Interpol operatives immediately coordinated with our counterparts in China to alert them of the arrival of the fugitive,” BI port operations chief Carlos Capulong said.
According to the report, Yao was initially held at the NAIA Terminal 1’s immigration departure area after the BI officer who processed him noticed that his name registered a positive hit in the BI’s Interpol database.
The BI supervisor-on-duty then referred the matter to the BI-Interpol which confirmed that the passenger and the person who registered a hit in the computer are one and the same.
BI Interpol officers relayed the information to their Chinese counterparts, who then planned and set up the operation for his arrest.
Records show that between May 2019 to April 2020 Yao operated a foreign exchange investment platform on the Internet by which he was able to lure unsuspecting persons to invest in a pyramid investment scheme.
The victims were allegedly promised large profits and rebates on their investments and as a result, he amassed profits from the scheme amounting to over 12 million Renminbi or roughly US$1.8 million.
After laundering most of his monies via wire transfers abroad, Yao fled to the Philippines on Jan. 23, 2020 and eight months later, the public security bureau in Pei County, Jiangsu province ordered his arrest on economic crimes charges.
