A MALE American convicted for a sex offense and an alleged Turkish fraudster were barred by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers from entering the country upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the two as American Michael David Steinborn, 57 and Turkish national Amol Awasthi, 48, who weree turned away on separate occasions. Both of them were booked and boarded on the next available flight to their port of origin following their exclusion.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said Steinborn was denied entry on Nov. 26 upon arriving aboard a United Airlines flight from San Francisco while Awasthi was intercepted the next day after he arrived via an Emirates flight from the United Arab Emirates. They were denied entry for being deemed as undesirable aliens due to their past criminal records.
Steinborn, she said, is a registered sex offender (RSO), who was excluded based on a provision in the law that prohibits the entry of aliens who were convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. He was reportedly convicted in Kissimmee, Florida in 1994 for indecent exposure and is considered as a Tier 1 offender.
Awasthi meanwhile, is the subject of an Interpol blue notice issued last year in connection with a criminal investigation against him for alleged involvement in transactions that defrauded the Indian government.
Sandoval said Indian authorities suspected that Awasthi and his cohorts conspired to cheat the Indian government by importing fertilizers and other products at inflated prices and claiming government subsidy thereafter.
Awasthi and his accomplices were also accused of profiting from illegal commissions earned from sale of overpriced fertilizers and raw materials and siphoning said commissions to their relatives and companies registered abroad.
