By Robina Asido

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) apprehended an alleged female member of the Japanese Luffy fraud syndicate in an operation in Makati City on Friday.

Based on the initial report, the suspect identified as Kimura Natsuki, 33, a member of Luffy Fraud Syndicate who worked as a telephone operator for their international scamming operations was apprehended at Tower 6789, Ayala avenue around 7 am.

According to BI, Kimura was apprehended based on a warrant of arrest for theft in violation of Article 235 of the Japanese Penal Code issued by the Tokyo Summary Court on March 14, 2024.

The Bureau noted that Kimura "is an undesirable alien and poses risk to public safety and security being a fugitive from justice" in reference to the official communication received by the BI from Chief Consul Makino Hideki of the Embassy of Japan in Manila last Feb. 14, 2023.

Kimura and her "accomplice stole ATM cards by falsely posing as police officers in order to deceive their victims into surrendering their cards and other personal information."

Following her arrest, Kimura will be turned over to Bureau of Immigration warden facility (BIWF) in Camp Bagong Diwa, Lower Bicutan, Taguig City after booking and documentation procedures. DMS