Japanese national nabbed over ‘mail order bride’ scheme — NBI

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday said it has arrested a Japanese national for allegedly illicitly facilitating a Filipina entertainer's travel to Japan for work using a "fake" marriage certificate.

One Jiro Saito — alias "Saito San" and "Ken Suzuki" — has fallen to NBI operatives in connection with the complaint of one Theresa Kyla Serafico, who claimed she had not married a certain Atsushi Takahashi, as supposedly reflected in the marriage certificate, the NBI said.

Serafico was offloaded a flight to Japan when immigration authorities found that the age shown in her passport and the purportedly fake marriage certificate differed by a year, the bureau said.

The Filipina entertainer said had experienced being unable to turn down customers' demand for sex while in Japan, despite her recruiter's promise that she would only be made to serve drinks.

The NBI explained that Serafico alleged in her complaint that Saito had given her a fake marriage certificate and a copy of Takahashi's passport for her to use through immigration and to legalize her stay in Japan, where she supposedly used to work only on a tourist visa.

Saito allegedly caused the preparation and processing of Serafico's travel requirements and the fake marriage contract, the NBI said.

Four of Saito's alleged co-conspirators -- Takahashi, recruiter Angelica Hernandez, and supposed spouses Takashi and Nancy Sugano -- remain at large, the NBI said.

Saito has undergone inquest proceedings for alleged violations of Republic Act No. 6955, the law against illegal matching of Filipino women for marriage to foreigners on mail order basis, and the Expanded Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.

He claimed to work for a travel agency in Manila and denied wrongdoing. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News