TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Bureau of Immigration in the Philippines recently announced that a Malaysian fugitive was caught attempting to enter the Philippines using a stolen Taiwanese passport in mid-January.

On Jan. 14, Yap Kean Hwa, 30, from Malaysia was stopped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by immigration officials after arriving on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City.

He was attempting to enter the country with a Taiwanese passport under the name Tsou Chang Chen, the Bureau announced on Friday.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila have confirmed that the passport was a genuine Taiwanese passport that had been reported stolen by the owner in 2017, reports the Manila Bulletin. .

Yap is currently detained in Manila and will be prosecuted for violating immigration laws, before possibly being extradited to Malaysia.