A Filipino American official of the United States Department of Homeland Security who fled his post in South Korea is wanted in California in connection with a $240,000 wire fraud, according to a statement seen Monday.
Dario Tomas, 51, was charged on Friday by a federal grand jury with defrauding investors by falsely promising to open a computer training school in the Philippines, said the statement from the US attorney's office in San Diego.
The offence is punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment, according to the statement which gave Tomas's address as Oceanside in California.
"Tomas recently fled his post in Korea and his whereabouts are presently unknown," the news release said.
He is accused of creating fake email accounts to send messages to investors to make it appear that the project was progressing, and falsely advising them by telephone of the progress of the school.
Tomas was based in the southeastern port city of Busan and was involved in a security initiative to check containers, a police officer at the city's Haeundae station told AFP.
The US citizen of Filipino descent fled to the Philippines on March 3 just two days before he was to be stripped of diplomatic immunity, the officer said.
The US statement did not make it clear where the victims of the alleged fraud are located. - Agence France Presse
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