IMMIGRATION officers have arrested a 32-year-old South Korean citizen who is wanted in his country for his alleged involvement in telecommunications fraud.
Personnel from the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Fugitive Search Unit caught Kang Hyeunok in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.
Kang was arrested under a deportation warrant issued by the BI in October 2021, according to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco in a statement posted on the bureau’s Facebook page.
Kang is accused of leading a voice phishing syndicate that defrauded victims of over US$840,000, roughly P47.1 million.
The syndicate reportedly operated by having telemarketers pose as bankers to deceive victims into revealing personal information, which was then used to commit fraud.
Tansingco said Kang had overstayed in the Philippines for more than four years, having last entered the country in July 2019.
He was also the subject of an Interpol red notice issued by the Suwon District Court in Korea, with a warrant for his arrest dating back to Sept. 13, 2019.
Kang, now considered an undocumented alien due to his canceled passport, is currently detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, as he awaits deportation. / CDF