A Korean-American wanted by authorities in Seoul for involvement in telecommunications fraud was arrested by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Jason Han Hsu, 37, was about to board an AirAsia flight to Osaka, Japan last July 17 when he was intercepted and stopped from leaving by BI inspectors at the NAIA terminal 3.
Hsu, according to Tansingco, is subject of a red notice from the Interpol which flashed on the computer screen of the BI officer who processed him at the immigration departure counter.
“Upon confirming that the passenger and the subject of the Interpol notice are one and the same, the immigration supervisors on duty decided to put Hsu under arrest,” Tansingco said.
Authorities alleged that from May 2018 to November 2019, Hsu worked for a voice phishing syndicate which operated in China from where it made calls to its victims in Korea.
The victims were reportedly told that they could borrow large amounts of money at low interest provided they send the amount of money they intend to loan to designated bank accounts owned by Hsu and his cohorts.
It is estimated that more than US$1.06 million in profits were amassed by the syndicate through the said racket.
Hsu will be placed in the BI blacklist of undesirable aliens and banned from re-entering the Philippines.
A US passport holder, Hsu was committed to the BI custodial facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
