BI nabs Korean fraudster in Pampanga

Angeles City — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that a South Korean fugitive wanted in Seoul, South Korea, for his involvement in telecommunications fraud has been apprehended in Pampanga.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the suspect as Lee Seul Ki, 37, who was arrested recently inside his condominium unit at the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City by BI Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) operatives.

According to Rendel Ryan Sy of the BI Fugitive Search Unit, Lee was detained as a result of a mission order issued by Commissioner Tansingco in response to the South Korean government's request for assistance in apprehending the suspect.

"We will send him back to Korea once our board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation. We will subsequently add him to our blacklist to prohibit him from re-entering the country," Tansingco stated.

Based on the BI's travel database, Lee hasn't left the country since his last arrival on May 26, 2016.

The BI-Interpol shared that Lee is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the central district prosecutor’s office in Seoul and Nambu district court on February 17, 2017.

The South Korean authorities have accused Lee of being a member of a voice-phishing syndicate that impersonated a police officer or financial advisor and called victims who were deceived into disclosing personal bank information. The scheme allegedly allowed him to transfer the victims' money to his own bank account. Lee is estimated to have made more than 178 million won, or approximately US$130,000, from the racket.

Lee’s passport had been revoked by the Korean government, making him an undocumented alien subject to summary deportation.

He is currently detained at the BI facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending deportation proceedings.