The 49 South Korean fugitives involved in scams and other financial crimes were arrested in different parts of the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) revealed.
In a press conference on Wednesday, September 3, BI Spokesperson Dana Sandoval clarified that the agency had been monitoring the said foreigners for quite some time already. The earliest arrest the BI conducted was in February 2018. However, Sandoval emphasized that the majority of them were arrested this year.
The biggest reason the arrests were in different parts of the country, as BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said, is that suspects often think that it is safer for them to be outside Metro Manila, highlighting that most of them were arrested at resorts.
"Kasi napansin po namin, 'yung ibang fugitives naman po. They think that it's safer to be outside of Metro Manila. They have this mistaken impression that it's easier to hide if you are outside of Manila," he said.
Viado vowed that the immigration agency would disprove the said notion by deporting the fugitives.
“We will disprove the notion that the Philippines is a safe haven for fugitives of any nationality. Hindi ho pwede magtago rito…hindi pwedeng magtago sa Pilipinas ang mga pugante ng ibang bansa,” Viado emphasized, adding that the BI would go after suspects no matter the nature and gravity of their crimes.
POGO connection?
Although the system had existed for several years, Sandoval said that the modus operandi is not connected with POGOs.
"Might not necessarily be connected with them, but a lot of the modus operandi are very similar. Given that… they're doing more phishing scams, fraud, financial fraud, getting [the] information of their nationals and using it to defraud them with their partner and money. So a lot of the modus operandi are very similar, more phishing, more fraud, economic crimes," she clarified.
With that, Lee Sang-hwa, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines, said that once these fugitives arrive in South Korea, they would go through different levels of procedures, depending on the gravity and nature of the crimes.
One victim to many
Speaking about the gravity of the financial crimes committed, Viado clarified that, based on their data, the suspects accumulated billions from scamming. However, he also reminded the public that they do not have the profiles on hand at the moment, and that it would be best to leave the exact figures to the authorities.
For now, the BI, with the cooperation of the South Korean government, said they are weighing the gravity of the offense for each person, as they all committed different crimes.
"I think ang mindset po namin, at tyaka po ng South Korean government, one victim to many. Isa lang po na ganyan, na nakakommit ng isang offense lang laban sa isang Korean national. Kung deportable offense 'yon, idedeport po namin,” Viado said.
“So, I think what is important is we are made fully aware of the offense, kahit isang offense lang. And more so, what offenses [were] committed by the subjects that we are going to deport. One victim to many, hindi po pwede, hindi acceptable sa amin na palagpasin 'yung ganyan," he added.
