TWO foreign fugitives wanted by the Interpol and who attempted to flee the country last week to evade prosecution for crimes they committed abroad were nabbed by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.
It was learned from BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval that the two passengers were intercepted on separate occasions at the NAIA 1 and 3 terminal before they could board their outbound flights. They were taken into custody after the immigration officers who processed them saw their names prompt a positive hit in the BI’s derogatory check system.
The two were identified as Jaime Alan Strauss, 37, an Australian, who was intercepted at the NAIA 1 last March 18 and 24-year-old Zverev Zakhar, a Russian, who was encountered at the NAIA 3 on March 20, 2025.
BI-Interpol acting chief Peter de Guzman said both Strauss and Zverev are subjects of red notices issued by the Interpol due to criminal cases that were filed against them in Panama and Russia. On the other hand, Zverev was indicted before a court in Krasnodar City, Russia in May 2021 for fraudulently misappropriating the bank accounts who were duped into revealing their personal information to the suspects.
Sandoval said that due to voice phishing scheme employed by the syndicate, the suspects allegedly earned 3.65 million rubles or more than US$43,000, from the victims.
Ferdinand Tendenilla, BI border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) chief, said both Strauss and Zverev were immediately committed to the BI custodial facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City where they will remain while undergoing deportation proceedings.
The two will be deported so they could be tried and punished for the crimes they committed after which they will be included in the BI blacklist and banned from re-entering the Philippines.
