The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced Friday the arrest of a Chinese fugitive wanted in his country for swindling more than one thousand of his compatriots in a pyramiding investment scam.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said 37-year-old, Qian Bingxu will be deported following his arrest last Sept. 16 at a five-star hotel in Pasay City by operatives from the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU).
“We will deport him not only because he is a fugitive from justice, but also an undocumented alien as his passport was already cancelled by the Chinese government,” he said.
The BI chief said Qian had been hiding in the country since November last year and there is no record that he applied for an extension of his stay as a tourist indicating he was already overstaying when arrested.
The Chinese embassy said Qian was issued an arrest warrant by the public security bureau in Liaoyuan, China where he was charged with illegally accepting deposits from 1,100 individuals who were promised high returns on their investments.
Qian allegedly persuaded the victims by word of mouth and assured them their money would be returned with interest upon demand.
He later absconded with the victims’ funds and fled to Manila.
It was learned that by the time the case against Qian was filed in late 2018, over 80 million Chinese yuan or more than US$12million of principal investments remained unpaid, thus causing the victims to suffer huge economic losses.
According to BI intelligence chief Bobby Raquepo, Qian could be sentenced to a maximum jail term of 10 years if convicted of the charges. (Jun Ramirez)
