A Japanese was arrested in Manila on Wednesday for being allegedly the leader of a group involved in a major fraud ring in his country.

Misao Kaminsukasu ( former name: Misao Koyama) 59, was apprehended in a joint operation of the Bureau of Immigration's Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) and Tokyo Interpol, at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Gil Puyat street around 11am.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said in an interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun the Japanese was in the Philippines since October when he entered the country as a tourist.

"We received information less than two weeks from his arrival about his case (in Japan) and then we conducted an investigation with the Tokyo Interpol," Sandoval told The Daily Manila Shimbun.

She said the Japanese will be temporarily detained in the BI cell in Bicutan, Taguig as he faces deportation proceedings.

"We hope to deport him within this year," she added.

In a statement, FSU chief Bobby Raquepo said the Japanese is allegedly accused of selling other people's property by using forged land deals. The Japanese's group reportedly swindled billions of yen from victims, added Raquepo.

The Japanese, Raquepo reported, has a standing warrant of arrest from a Japanese court "for uttering counterfeit private documents bearing a seal or signature and attempting false entries in the original of an electromagnetic notarized deeds.’

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente lauded the apprehension and warned those fugitives hiding in the country to not use the Philippines to evade prosecution.

"We are closely coordinating with other law enforcement agencies and foreign counterparts," he said.

"Do not use the Philippine to evade prosecution. You cannot escape the long arm of the law," Morente added.

According to a news report, the Japanese's group allegedly defrauded Sekisui House of 6.3 billion yen in total by concluding between late March 2017 and early June of the same year a deal to sell the 2,000-square-meter land plot to the firm. Ella Dionisio/DMS