The Seoul police agency on Friday booked 16 Filipinos for illegally transporting foreign currency out of the country.

According to the police, the 16, including flight attendants transported 3.2 billion won ($2.8 million) from Korea to the Philippines on behalf of migrant workers from the Southeast Asian country between January 2009 and December 2011.

The police said that a 59-year-old Filipino operating an unregistered foreign exchange business, whose name was withheld, exchanged money for migrant workers and arranged for the funds to be delivered to the Philippines through flight attendants.

The police said that he exchanged a total of 3.2 billion won over 2,800 occasions. He is thought to have made more than 100 million won from the scheme.

He charged migrant workers 5,000 won per transaction, and profited from exchange rate differences, the police said.

The flight attendants hid up to $30,000 among their personal belongings when flying to the Philippines for a fee of $50 for every $10,000 they transported.

The police said that the Filipino used flight attendants to transport cash as they presented secure routes and were less likely to be discovered by security personnel.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)