Manila: The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday announced the arrest of a Japanese national, Yokota Tetsuya, 39, in Manila. Tetsuya is accused of involvement in phishing scams and is sought for prosecution in Japan.

According to Philippines News Agency, Tetsuya was apprehended by operatives of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit in Binondo on January 2. He is currently held at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, while awaiting repatriation.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado stated, “He will be deported after our board of commissioners has issued the order for his summary deportation.” Viado further noted that Tetsuya would be placed on the immigration blacklist and permanently banned from re-entering the Philippines for being deemed an undesirable alien.

The BI revealed that Tetsuya was the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant issued by a summary court in Omiya, Japan, on May 31 of the previous year. Japanese authorities have accused Tetsuya and his accomplices of making a fraudulent phone call to a victim, misleading them into believing that transferring the right to enter a nursing home was a criminal act.

The BI reported that the suspects swindled the victim into sending 2.75 million yen (approximately USD17,000) in cash via postal mail.