Manila: The Bureau of Immigration is set to deport a Chinese national who has been accused of victimising thousands of his compatriots on a gambling racket-cum-investment scheme.
Zhang Fuhui is being readied for deportation following his arrest last Sunday inside a residential unit in Manila’s predominantly Chinese district at Soler Street, immigrations bureau Officer-in-Charge Siegfred Mison said.
Zhang, 26, ran a multi-million pyramid investment scam and illegal gambling racket that victimised more than 40,000 people in his country, Mison said.
Zhang had operated his gambling and investment racket with the help of two other Chinese nationals, Huang Zhen Xue and Liu Ying. They were also arrested along with the fugitive for failure to present their travel documents.
According to Mison, Zhang was arrested on the basis of a summary deportation order that was issued against him by the immigrations Board of Commissioners last January 21 for being an undesirable alien.
Prior to his apprehension by Philippine authorities, Zhang’s arrest and deportation had been requested by the Chinese Embassy which informed the immigrations bureau about an arrest warrant that was issued against him by police in Huai An City, Jiangsu Province, China where he and his accomplices were charged with economic crimes.
Chinese authorities alleged that sometime in April 2012, Zhang conspired with other suspects in setting up a firm called “Bao Ma” which is essentially a pyramid scam that enticed investors with promises of huge returns for their investments.
The scheme reportedly lured an estimated 40,000 Chinese victims whose combined losses amounted to at least $242 million (Dh888 million). A few months later the suspects allegedly opened a similar website that invited gamblers to bet in its online games.
According to Mison, the scheme had managed to lure more than 4,000 online gamblers whose total bets reached more than 61 million yuan (Dh36 million) and from which the suspects earned more than 6.3 million yuan in profits.
According to Immigrations Bureau acting intelligence chief Jose Carlitos Licas, Zhang will be sent back to China as soon as immigrations secure the required clearances for his deportation.
Aside from deportation, Licas said Zhang would be placed on the immigrations blacklist and would not be able to return to the Philippines.
Prior to Zhang and his associates, dozens of Chinese nationals and Taiwanese operating illegal call centre operations in the country had been arrested over the past two years.
