IMMIGRATION officers have arrested two South Korean fugitives wanted by South Korea and the United States for their alleged involvement in telecom and wire-related fraud.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Kwon Junyoung, 38, and Seok Jongmin, 48 were apprehended last Saturday in Angeles City, Pampanga by operatives from the agency’s Fugitive Search Unit.
The operation, according to Tansingco, was carried out in collaboration with Korean authorities and the Angeles City police.
Information provided by South Korean authorities said Kwon is wanted for telecommunications fraud in Seoul while Seok is being sought in Texas for engaging in wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.
“They will soon be deported to Korea and the US as summary deportation orders were already issued against them by the BI board of commissioners,” said Tansingco, adding their names will also be placed in the BI’s blacklist of undesirable aliens to bar them from returning to the country.
The BI chief said information obtained from Interpol’s national central bureau (NCB) in Manila revealed that Kwon was issued an arrest warrant by the Suwon district court in Korea on December 12, 2019.
South Korean prosecutors alleged that Kwon is a member of a telecom fraud syndicate based in Dalian, China that made random calls to victims through a scheme known as voice phishing.
“The victims were reportedly harassed and duped into depositing their money into the syndicate’s accounts as the callers pretended to be investigators of the Seoul central prosecutor’s office,” Tansingco said.
The NCB disclosed that Seok is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the US district court in Western Texas where he is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
Seok allegedly conspired with other suspects in using the stolen personal identifiable information (PII) of thousands of US military veterans to access websites of the US Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and left the victims losing their benefits.
Seok is also facing robbery and extortion charges before a local court in Angeles City and was on bail when arrested by immigration personnel.
Tansingco said Seok will remain in the custody of the Angeles City police due to his ongoing local case but will continue to be under the BI’s legal custody for deportation proceedings.
Last year, 87 Koreans were deported for violation of immigration laws, including overstaying their visas, violating the conditions of their stay, and being undesirable aliens.
