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In a shocking revelation Wednesday, the New York Post reports that federal agents dressed as computer repairmen in order to gain access to computers used by the father-son tandem of poker players Wei Seng Phua (AKA Paul Phua) and Darren Wai Kit Phua. Both are accused of operating an elaborate World Cup betting ring from their high priced villas in Las Vegas back in July.
From the New York Post:
The FBI employed the ruse against the recommendation of an assistant U.S. attorney, Kimberly Frayn, according to lawyers for four of eight men charged in the case. They filed a motion late Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas to dismiss evidence in the case. According to a conversation recorded by an investigator for the hotel, the prosecutor told FBI agents “it was a consent issue,” the lawyers said.
Under U.S. law, a person whose property is inspected generally must waive his constitutional protections against unreasonable searches unless authorities obtain a warrant. Evidence collected improperly is not supposed to be used at trial.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Daniel Bodgen acknowledged that prosecutors were aware of the allegations being made by defense lawyers but declined to comment further.
The Phuas were two of eight individuals charged with running the illegal sports betting operation. The FBI claims that Paul Phua, 50, is a high-ranking member of the Hong Kong-based 14K Triad, one of the largest criminal syndicates in the world. He is also a regular on the Macau high-stakes poker circuit and considered a major operator of junkets to that gambling mecca. In an interesting twist, the elder Phua was also revealed to have been San Marino’s ambassador to the city state of Montenegro for a period of three years.
Poker pros Phil Ivey and Andrew Robl posted the initial $2.5 million to have the father son tandem released on bond related to the gambling charges but US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately placed the two men back into custody. The two men have since been released and are awaiting trial in the U.S.
The complaint alleges that an electrical engineer employee advised security personnel at the Caesars villas that hotel equipment “appeared to be set up for an illegal gambling operation.”
From the Post:
Over two days in early July, FBI agents worked with a hotel computer contractor and the state’s gaming control board to shut off the Internet at different times and at one point delivered a laptop computer to try to see what was happening, according to the court filing. Investigators eventually gained access after they turned off the Internet connection to two suites, impersonated repair technicians and recorded video inside. Authorities later used the videos to obtain a warrant to arrest the men.
In the criminal complaint, federal agents said the videos showed evidence of an illegal online sports gambling operation being run out of the villas. Prosecutors did not mention in the criminal complaint what caused the Internet outages.
“They were trying everything they could to get inside without a warrant,” defense attorney Thomas Goldstein told the AP.
A former federal prosecutor, Mark Rasch, said the ploy probably will not stand up in court.
“Police are allowed to use a certain kind of subterfuge, but what they can’t do is create a certain kind of circumstance,” Rasch said.
Each of the men have denied any guilt in the matter. Paul Phau made headlines back in April after finishing 6th at the final table of the PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo main event.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
