4 Japanese nabbed for telecom fraud

MANILA, Philippines — Four Japanese men suspected to be members of a telecommunications fraud syndicate based in Cambodia were arrested in Pasay and Parañaque on Tuesday.

The alleged leader of the group, 43-year-old Sawada Masaya, was apprehended at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 at around 11:10 a.m., National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a message on Viber.

Masaya had just arrived from Cebu and was on his way to his residence in Barangay BF Homes in Parañaque when he was arrested by police and BI personnel.

Sawada has a warrant of arrest for fraud issued by the Omiya Summary Court in Japan for fraud and was the subject of a Bureau of Immigration mission order.

Law enforcers raided Sawada’s residence at around 2 p.m. and arrested his alleged accomplices Suzuki Seiji, 29; Koji Ueda, 27, and Jun Kiyohara, 29.

The three men were about to escape when they were caught, police said.

According to Nartatez, the foreigners are members of a criminal syndicate engaged in extortion and online fraud.

The suspects were brought to the NCRPO’s headquarters at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City for documentation. – Nillicent Bautista