The Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration (BI) today announced the arrest of two South Koreans wanted by authorities in Seoul for allegedly illegally operating an online gaming operation in the Philippines that reportedly victimized a lot of Koreans.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the suspects as 28-year-old Lee Jongjin and 40-year-old Chae Kwangbeom, according to a statement released today.
They were nabbed by the bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) in their residence at the Clark Hills Subdivision in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Lee and Chae are subjects of arrest warrants issued by the Busan district court in South Korea where they were charged for violating their country’s game industry promotion act.
“We will deport them for being undocumented aliens as their passports were already canceled by the Korean government. They are also undesirable aliens for being fugitives from justice who pose a risk to public safety and security,” Morente said.
The charges stemmed from the suspects’ alleged operation of three private online servers in Angeles City after falsifying the interface adapter of massive multiplayer online roleplaying game called Lineage 1, created by South Korean video game company NC Soft Corporation.
The suspects allegedly received huge sums of cash from unsuspecting subscribers by converting their game money called “adena.”
The BI said that the investigation also revealed that Lee arrived in July while Chae arrived in August. They reportedly started operating their online racket just this January.
Authorities are on a manhunt for two other Koreans who are alleged cohorts of Lee and Chae and believed to still be in the country.
