American citizen Michael David Steinborn (left) and Turkish national Amol Awasthi (right) (Photo courtesy of BI)
MANILA – Immigration authorities have prevented a convicted American sex offender and an alleged Turkish fraudster from entering the country for being undesirable aliens due to their criminal records.
In a news release on Wednesday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said 57-year-old American citizen Michael David Steinborn and 48-year-old Turkish national Amol Awasthi were turned away on separate occasions upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City this week.
Steinborn was denied entry on Nov. 26 upon arriving aboard a United Airlines flight from San Francisco, while Awasthi was intercepted on Nov. 27 after he arrived via an Emirates flight from the United Arab Emirates.
Tansingco cited the case of Steinborn, a registered sex offender, who was excluded based on Philippine laws that prohibit the entry of aliens who were convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.
Steinborn was reportedly convicted in Kissimmee, Florida in 1994 for indecent exposure.
On the other hand, Awasthi was the subject of an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) blue notice issued last year in connection with a criminal investigation against him for alleged involvement in transactions that defrauded the Indian government.
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 subsidies thereafter.
The group was also accused of profiting from illegal commissions earned from the sale of overpriced fertilizers and raw materials and siphoning these commissions to their relatives and companies registered abroad.
The BI said both were booked and boarded on the next available flight to their respective ports of origin after they were barred entry. (PNA)
