Convicted Korean swindler to be deported

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will deport a convicted South Korean swindler who was arrested in Pampanga, more than a year after he fled to the Philippines to evade serving his sentence.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said 48-year-old Chong Won Sok was apprehended last week inside the Clark Freeport zone in Angeles City by operatives from the BI fugitive search unit (FSU).

Chong was arrested on the strength of a warrant which the Immigration chief issued against the Korean for being an undesirable and undocumented alien.

Morente said Chong has been illegally staying in the country because his passport has been cancelled by the South Korean government.

Immigration intelligence chief Bobby Raquepo said Chong flew to the Philippines in March last year as fraud charges against him was being investigated by prosecutors.

“Last May 29, a Korean court sentenced him to one year in prison and he became the subject of an Interpol red notice after authorities learned that he had fled to the Philippines,” Raquepo said.

According to information from Korean authorities, Chong was convicted for swindling a compatriot of nearly 35 million won in August 2016 by making his victim believe that he could facilitate a 2.2-billion-won loan for the latter’s housing construction project.