Japanese fugitive targeting elderly deported

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – A Japanese man wanted for fraud in his country was deported on Monday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Sasaki Yohei, 36, boarded a Japan Airlines flight bound for Tokyo Monday morning.

The BI ordered his deportation after receiving information from the Japanese government of his crimes.

“His deportation shows our strong stance against illegal aliens attempting stay in the Philippines to evade arrest in their home countries,” Viado said in a statement.

Yohei was arrested last Oct. 1 along Mercury Street in Barangay Bahay Toro, Quezon City.

According to Japanese authorities, Yohei has an active warrant of arrest issued by the Omiya summary court in Saitama, Japan where he was charged for defrauding an elderly victim in a nursing home where he worked as a staff member.

He allegedly enticed the victim to invest more than JPY3 million in a fake contract-related transaction.

The Japanese is also an alleged member of a Cambodia-based telecom fraud syndicate engaged in kidnapping, illegal detention, extortion and fraud.

It was learned that several high-ranking members of the syndicate have been arrested in previous BI operations.

Viado added that as a consequence of his deportation, his name was included in the blacklist, barring him from re-entering the country.