(Photo courtesy of BI)
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has barred from entering the country a Chinese national wanted by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for his involvement in credit card fraud at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Parañaque City.
In a statement Wednesday, BI-Interpol Unit chief Jaime Bustamante said the 29-year-old man, whose identity was withheld in compliance with Interpol protocols, was intercepted last week at the NAIA Terminal 1 after he arrived via an Eva Air flight from Taipei.
The suspect was turned back after the immigration officer who processed him saw that his name is on the bureau’s list of blacklisted foreigners.
He said the blacklist order stemmed from a blue notice issued by Interpol in Beijing in November 2022 regarding the criminal case that is pending against him in Taiwan.
A criminal case was filed against the suspect in April 2019 by the Municipal Public Security Bureau in Baoding City in China's Hebei province for allegedly facilitating the sale of his relatives’ credit cards to criminal fraud syndicates.
Investigators said the man is suspected to have committed the crime between December 2018 to February 2019 when he asked his sister to convince 39 of their relatives to advertise the sale of their credit cards online.
The suspect fled China and ran away with the money he earned after transacting with the international criminal gangs who bought these credit cards.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco cautioned foreigners against fake immigration agents using bogus mission orders to harass them.
In an advisory, Tansingco said he received a request for verification of a mission order supposedly issued by the BI, targeting foreigners in Makati City.
A verification by the BI showed that the document was fake.
“No such order was issued by the BI,” Tansingco said, noting that mission orders against subject foreigners are always specific, and cannot be used to harass foreigners.
Tansingco said foreigners may request verification of orders directly to the BI through the contact information found on their website at www.immigration.gov.ph. (PNA)
