An overstaying alien, allegedly involved in large-scale online scams, has been arrested in Pasay City, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday, Nov. 10.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado said the foreigner, Chinese national Xiang Longiyu, 33, also known as “Sam Lee,” was nabbed at his condominium unit in Pasay City on Nov. 4 during the joint operation conducted by the BI-Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU), National Bureau of Investigation–Operative Technical Cyber Division (NBI-OTCD), and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).
“Foreign nationals who engage in these criminal schemes or violate immigration laws will be arrested, prosecuted, and removed from the country,” Viado said.
The BI said the CICC sought the agency’s assistance in tracking the suspect’s activities following intelligence reports linking him to online financial scams.
“Reports indicated that Xiang was operating under a ‘work-from-home’ setup and was previously associated with a scam hub dismantled earlier this year in Makati City,” it said.
It also said that Xiang “continued with his fraudulent activities using multiple laptop computers.”
The BI said that Xiang arrived in the Philippines in 2019 as a temporary visitor but has become an overstaying alien since his last visa extension expired in 2022.
Xiang is now detained at the BI’s Warden Facility pending his deportation. (Jeffrey Damicog)
