Thursday, September 18, 2008 Japanese 'swindler' deported
A JAPANESE national was deported back to his homeland immediately after a provincial court dismissed the swindling case hurled against the foreigner.
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said Masahiro Tashima was flown out of the country on Wednesday after languishing at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) detention center in Bicutan, Taguig for two years.
The foreigner was accused of collecting money from Davao City residents in exchange for facilitating their visas to Japan.
Libanan said the deportation of Tashima came after the Lapu-Lapu City Regional Trial Court last month dismissed the case filed against him.
"We made sure that he was deported immediately since there is no more legal impediment to his departure. The decongestion of our Bicutan jail continues," the BI chief added.
BI intelligence operatives arrested Tashima inside the Boholano Hotel in Davao City on August 2, 2006.
Libanan said the Japanese was arrested after an association of Japanese nationals in Davao City complained that he was using the group's name to advertise his recruitment racket.
BI records showed that Tashima last arrived in the country on June 15, 2004. (FP/Sunnex)
