Thursday, October 16, 2008 American fugitive nabbed
A FORMER US Air Force sergeant charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and extortion in the United States was arrested by agents of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), said Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
Libanan said Filipino-American Rommel Isidera Schroer was arrested last Friday in his workplace at Paseo Tesoro Building in Makati City.
He said the arrest was the BI’s response to the request of the US Embassy in Manila which informed the bureau about the fugitive’s presence in the country.
A district court of Arizona, USA on October 18, 2006 issued an arrest warrant against Schroer on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and extortion, an offense which carries the maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of US$250,000.
Libanan said Schroer will be deported for being an undocumented and overstaying alien as his passport was already revoked by the US government, as soon as the BI board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation.
Travel records showed that the former American Air Force officer arrived in the country on December 8, 2007 and was admitted as an immigrant. He, however, lost that immigration status after the US government canceled his passport.
Schroer allegedly conspired with several other military and public officials and civilians to demand money from drug traffickers, who turned out to be undercover agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (FP/Sunnex)
