Jail warden, 5 guards sacked for detainee's escape

Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan ordered yesterday the relief of the jail warden and five guards after a Korean detainee, who is facing a P400-million embezzlement case in his country, escaped from his escorts when they brought him to his dentist in Parañaque City over the weekend.

Commissioner Libanan said BI jail warden Arsenio Samson and security guards Jorge Reyes, Herbert Veron, Carlos Garcia, Fernando Achay, and Nasrodin Abdulwahab have been removed from their current positions while an investigation is ongoing.

BI Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro was tasked to lead a five-man investigating panel that would look into the escape of Byung Kyu Choi, who is reportedly wanted in Korea for large-scale fraud and swindling.

Libanan said he also ordered a manhunt for Choi and warned those who caught protecting the Korean that they would be charged with harboring fugitives, an offense punishable with a five-year jail term.

Initial information reaching the BI head office showed Choi managed to elude his escorts Saturday afternoon when they accompanied him to a dental clinic in Better Living, Parañaque City.

Libanan said the jail guards violated BI rules because they allowed Choi to leave the detention center even if no authorized official issued a medical pass. Only the commissioner or his duly authorized representative can issue a medical pass.

Upon learning that the dentist was not in the clinic, the guards allowed Choi to drop by his office in Taguig City to meet with his lawyers. It was at this juncture that he escaped.

Records show that a summary deportation order has been issued against Choi, who was arrested last Dec. 3 at the FTI based on a complaint by a Korean couple who said the suspect defrauded them of P7 million.

The Korean embassy said Choi was also wanted in their country. He has to stand trial before a district court in Seoul for his reported involvement in an embezzlement case worth P400 million (P16 million).