THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced the arrest of another Japanese fugitive long sought by authorities in Tokyo for involvement in telecommunications fraud.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Eiji Shigematsu, 48, was arrested last Feb.7 along Ayala Avenue, Bel Air Village, Makati City by operatives from the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU).
Viado said Shigematsu was arrested on the strength of a mission order he issued upon receipt of information from the Japanese government which reported his presence in the Philippines.
“We will deport him and he will be blacklisted and banned from reentering the country,” said Viado.
According to BI-FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy, Shigematsu was issued an arrest warrant by the Kajiki summary court in Japan in July last year after he was charged for theft in violation of the Japanese penal code.
Shigematsu and his accomplices were accused of running voice phishing operations that victimized many of their compatriots.
The suspects allegedly perpetrated the scheme by impersonating police officers in order to exact money from victims.
While not part of the ‘Luffy’ gang, authorities believed Shigematsu and his cohorts operated a similar scheme in a smaller scale.
Shigematsu was later brought to the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
A check of his travel records revealed that he is already overstaying as he last arrived in the country on Oct. 18, 2019
