BI nabs Japanese behind fake marriages involving Filipinas

PHOTO BY BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION

MANILA – The BI reported on Friday that a 50-year-old Japanese national wanted by authorities in his country for involvement in illegal recruitment and falsifying official documents was arrested in Manila.

In a statement, Commissioner Norman Tansingco said operatives from the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) have arrested Amano Mototaka was arrested on Jan. 30 along Arellano Avenue in Sta. Ana, Manila.

The said foreigner is a subject of an arrest warrant issued by a summary court in Nagoya, Japan on Sept. 30, 2022 but he eluded arrest by fleeing to the Philippines.

“We issued a mission order for his arrest after we received information from Japanese authorities that he is a wanted criminal, set to stand trial in Japan for his alleged crimes,” Tansingco said in a statement.

Records obtained by the bureau showed the foreign national was accused of falsifying entries in original electromagnetic notarized deeds and offering them for sale. This is in violation of Japan’s control and improvement of amusement business punishable under the country’s penal code.

Mototaka is also under investigation in Japan for arranging fake marriages of Filipino applicants who want to acquire long-term resident visas. He would eventually recruit them to work in his illegal entertainment bar.

He is currently jailed at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.