Cops arrest South Korean fugitive

A South Korean wanted for a multimillion-won blackmail and extortion scheme in Seoul has been arrested in Manila, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday.

Shin Un-sun, 37, was arrested upon the request of his country’s embassy in Manila, Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said in a statement.

The fugitive arrived in the country in May 2007 and had been overstaying in the Philippines with an expired passport, David said. “(Shin) will be deported to Seoul where a central district court has issued a warrant for his arrest.”

Bureau intelligence chief Maria Antonette Bucasas Mangrobang said Shin was wanted in Seoul for hacking into the computer files of a communications firm and downloading the personal data of more than 40,000 customers.

Shin later sent e-mails to the victims’ accounts and threaten to violate their privacy, Mangrobang said. The victims were instructed to deposit US$150,000 into Shin’s savings accounts with three banks in Manila.

However, the customers ignored the threat and Shin then demanded the payment of 10 million won from the company in exchange for not revealing its customers’ identities to competitors, Mangrobang said. Philip C. Tubeza