South Korean fugitive barred from entering PH

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has stopped a South Korean national from entering the country.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said 56-year-old Jurng Wook Yi is wanted by authorities in Seoul for operating a multimillion dollar illegal online gaming racket in Cambodia a few years ago.

Morente on Friday said immigration officers at the NAIA 2 terminal intercepted and turned away the Korean when he arrived aboard a Philippine Airlines flight from Incheon.

“He was refused entry after it was found that he was the subject of a red notice from the Interpol due to a criminal case that was filed against him in Korea,” Morente said.

The Korean ​was placed in the bureau’s blacklist of undesirable aliens.

Yi had been in the Interpol’s list of wanted criminals since 2013 when South Korean authorities requested the international police organization to issue a red notice against him.

The fugitive was booked on the first available flight to Incheon where authorities waited to arrest him.

The warrant for his arrest was issued by Central District Court.

​Information provided by the Korean embassy revealed that between December 2009 and November 2011, Yi colluded with several other suspects in opening thousands of illegal gambling websites in Cambodia.

These reportedly attracted thousands of avid gamblers as the websites enabled internet users to watch via live stream blackjack and baccarat games being played inside several casinos that the syndicate had established in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

South Korean investigators believe that Yi and his accomplices amassed profit of as much as 116 billion Korean won or about US$101 million from their racket where an estimated 1.05 trillion Korean won or US$914 billion cash was betted by the online gamblers. IDL