SoKor illegal gambling fugitive nabbed

Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives arrested a 41-year-old South Korean (SoKor) national wanted in his home country for operating unauthorized online game servers involved in illegal gambling activities during an entrapment operation in Taguig City, the agency announced Sunday.

The BI identified the foreign fugitive as Lee Seunghyun, who was apprehended in Barangay Western Bicutan last 13 October.

The bureau executed the operation following a formal request from the South Korean government seeking Lee’s deportation. Lee is also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

According to information from the South Korean Embassy, the Busan District Court issued an arrest warrant for Lee on 15 January 2026, for alleged violations of South Korea’s Game Industry Promotion Act.

South Korean authorities allege that beginning in January 2019, Lee and his accomplices manipulated an interface adapter to run three unauthorized private online game servers based in Angeles City.

The syndicate reportedly generated illicit revenue by collecting cash payments from users in exchange for “Adena,” a virtual in-game currency, facilitating unauthorized monetary transactions through the servers.

Immigration records showed Lee last arrived in the Philippines on 26 July 2018, rendering him an undocumented and overstaying foreign national. The bureau had previously blacklisted Lee as a fugitive from justice in August 2019.

Lee remains held at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending deportation proceedings.