Wanted Saudi nat’l barred from leaving

AN overstaying Saudi Arabian national wanted by authorities in his country for fraud and embezzlement was barred by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from leaving the country.

BI acting port operations chief Grifton Medina said passenger Bandar Hamdi Alshalwi, 44, was intercepted last May 16 at the NAIA Terminal 1 before he could flee by boarding a Saudia Airlines flight to Jeddah.  Alshawi was offloaded from his flight and turned over to the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

“Our officers found out that he was blacklisted by the BI on July 16, 2015 when our board of commissioners, at the request of Saudi authorities, ordered his summary deportation for being a fugitive and undesirable alien,” Medina said.

Medina said Alshawi overstayed in the country for more than six years as BI records show he last arrived here on Sept. 16, 2014.

Meanwhile, BI intelligence division chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. disclosed that the Saudi national was the subject of a red notice issued by the Interpol on February 12, 2015 after authorities in Riyadh learned that he had fled to the Philippines to avoid prosecution.

Manahan said Alshawi absconded with more than seven million Saudi rials, or nearly US$2 million, which he defrauded from his victims and a warrant for his arrest was issued by Saudi Arabia’s Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.

“He received the money purportedly as payment for his services in recruiting Filipina domestic helpers the victims wished to employ,” Manahan said.

The BI is expected to immediately deport Alshawi to his homeland after the Saudi embassy undertakes the arrangements for his departure.  He could be sentenced to a maximum jail term of two years if convicted.