BI deports 43 ‘fraudsters’ to Taiwan for their trial

THE 43 Taiwanese who were arrested in Cebu City for their alleged involvement in online fraud were deported yesterday, according to a police official.

Supt. Rex Derilo, acting chief of the Regional Intelligence Division, told reporters that the foreigners will face trial in Taiwan since all their alleged victims are Taiwanese citizens.

He said they are tracking down the foreigners’ cohorts who are possibly still in Cebu or in other parts of the country.

Different units under the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 arrested the Taiwanese and 26 Chinese nationals in different subdivisions in Cebu City last Sept. 8.

The deportation of the Chinese nationals will follow.

Derilo said the consulate office of the People’s Republic of China is helping the police in the investigation. Ten of the arrested Chinese nationals reportedly have no passports.

The suspects allegedly blackmailed their victims by telling them that their bank accounts were involved in a money laundering case or other serious crimes.

Most of their victims are businessmen.

They then persuade the businessmen to transfer all their money to a so-called “security bank account” of a financial supervision center while undergoing investigation.

Before the arrest, Bañas received last June a letter from Taipei Economic and Cultural Office executive assistant Jerry Chih-Yung Wang asking the PRO 7 to investigate the suspected fraudsters.

They were located after the Internet protocol (IP) addresses they used were found in Cebu City.