The United States deported a South Korean to his native country Thursday to face large-scale fraud charges in the latest of a series of expulsions, officials said.
Han Young Lee, 53, was handed over to South Korean law enforcement agents in Seoul after being flown from Los Angeles on a commercial flight, accompanied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
Seoul issued an arrest warrant for Lee in March 2008 for allegedly running a business that duped investors out of some $8 million from 2000-2008. Kyung Hwa Choi, 39, an employee of his, was deported to South Korea last month.
Lee entered the United States a month after the arrest warrant was issued, on a six-month tourist visa, but he stayed illegally and was arrested in October.
“Foreign fugitives who seek to escape responsibility for their actions by fleeing to the US will find no sanctuary in Southern California,” said Timothy Robbins of ICE’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
“As these cases make clear, ICE is working closely with law enforcement agencies here and abroad to hold criminals accountable, no matter where they commit their crimes,” added Robbins, the head of the ERO office in Los Angeles.
Since October 2009, the ERO has deported more than 500 foreign fugitives wanted in their native countries for serious crimes including kidnapping, rape and murder, ICE said.
US deports another Korean wanted for financial fraud
