(Photo courtesy of BI)
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday said two Chinese nationals recently arrested in Cebu province and Parañaque City are now awaiting deportation.
Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified them as Zhu Yuanjiang, 25; and Ma MIngjie, 51, who were arrested last week in separate operations of the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU).
Both are now detained at the BI detention facility at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City while awaiting deportation.
Zhu was arrested on April 17 in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City after the BI board of commissioners issued a warrant of deportation against him last year.
He was ordered deported for overstaying and for working in the country without proper permits.
Investigation showed that Zhu previously worked in Xinchuang Network Technology Inc., an online gaming hub in Pasay City that was raided by authorities in June last year for alleged engagement in various criminal activities such as human trafficking and cyber fraud.
Meanwhile, Ma was nabbed on April 19 at his residence in a subdivision in Parañaque City. He is wanted by Chinese authorities for contract fraud.
Ma has a warrant of arrest from the Jiangbei district sub-bureau of the Public Security Bureau in Chongqing, China issued on Dec. 6, 2017.
Chinese authorities alleged that Ma and his cohorts deliberately tampered with bank accounts and account names of a point of sale machine merchant which resulted in the unauthorized transfer of over 58 million yuan (more than USD8 million) from China Minsheng Banking Corporation to his altered bank account.
Human trafficking foiled
Meanwhile, the BI’s immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) intercepted a 29-year-old male trafficking victim on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 after attempting to depart for Thailand to work illegally.
It reported that the man initially claimed to be traveling alone as a tourist for a short vacation in Thailand.
He presented a Cebu Pacific round-trip ticket and showed identification cards, claiming that he is employed in a manpower agency in the Philippines.
However, the primary inspection officer noted inconsistencies in his statement and referred him for secondary inspection.
Verification showed that he presented a fake return ticket, which prompted him to admit that he has no plans of returning and will instead proceed to Chiang Rai, Thailand to illegally work in an online gaming company.
He added that he was contacted through Telegram by a female recruiter, who enticed him to depart under such circumstances.
The victim admitted that he paid PHP30,000 and was promised a job with a monthly salary of USD1,200 (around PHP69,000).
I-PROBES Chief Bienvenido Castillo III said this incident might be another case of 'catphishing', where victims are promised work in online gaming companies but end up as online scammers.
He said one common modus they have noted is that victims are made to pretend to be working locally for the manpower agencies that recruited them. (PNA)
