Valentine Forkwa Mbanwei (Photo courtesy of BI)
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday reported the interception of a 31-year-old Cameroon national from entry in the country for presenting a stolen French passport.
In a statement, the BI’s Border Control and Enforcement Unit (BCIU) said Valentine Forkwa Mbanwei was barred from entering the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in Cebu after his arrival aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore on Nov. 20.
It said the African initially presented a French passport under a different name but upon checking, a hit from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) indicated that the French passport was reported stolen and lost by the owner.
The passenger later admitted his true identity and presented his Cameroon passport.
Mbanwei was immediately denied entry for misrepresentation, for not possessing an entry visa and for being likely to become a public nuisance.
His name will be included in the BI’s blacklist, banning him from entering the Philippines indefinitely.
On the other hand, the BI also reported the arrest of an Australian octogenarian man in Cebu facing charges of sexual abuse in his home country.
In a report to Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) said David John Buckley, 81, is currently detained at the BI’s holding facility in Taguig City pending his deportation.
The foreigner was arrested last Nov. 21 in Bantayan Island.
“He will be deported as soon as the board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation. His presence is not welcome in the country, and he will be placed in blacklist,” the BI chief said.
According to official records, Buckley is the subject of two arrest warrants issued by the federal police in Queensland, Australia based on charges of rape and indecent treatment of children.
The charges reportedly stemmed from a 2021 complaint filed against Buckley in Papua New Guinea for sexual abuse he committed against the victims in the early 1990s.
Moreover, he is known to have committed multiple sex-related offenses in various places in Queensland, aside from 26 child and sexual abuse offenses from 1988 to 2004.
Buckley was also found to be undocumented as his passport has already expired.
Meanwhile, the FSU also arrested 30-year-old Chinese national Lin Hengyi at his residence in a posh condominium building in Taguig City.
According to information from the Chinese government, Lin is wanted for his alleged involvement in economic crimes for operating a fraudulent investment and financial management firm.
The said company allegedly solicited funds from unsuspecting victims who were enticed to invest money in their own platform which caused the customers to incur losses amounting to over 2 million Chinese yuan, or nearly USD300,000. (PNA)
