SPECIAL FEATURE The man whom Home Minister Zahid Hamidi had written a letter to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in his defence over an illegal gambling court case in Las Vegas is said to have lived a life of jetsetting and luxury, and had high rolled in Caesars Palace before he was caught.
Zahid had written to clear Phua, a Malaysian, of the latter’s links with the infamous 14K triad based in Hong Kong to the FBI following the triad link being drawn in the course of the US legal proceedings.
However, Phua’s lawyers withdrew the letter on December 29, 2014 because the Malaysian government had later objected to its use in court.
In their defence of Phua and his son Darren’s illegal gambling charges, the lawyers alleged that their clients had been entrapped and hence made through unlawful means.
In response, the US government represented by US attorney Daniel Bogden issued a 53-page reply to the Phuas’ legal challenge.
This response, which has been declassified, also included a whopping 295-page exhibit.
How the ‘Boss’ arrived in US
According to the exhibits which include FBI notes, blacked out witness testimonies, hundreds of Whatsapp, Skype and SMS chats, bank transfers in millions, as well as receipts and customs declarations, the duo has not been too discreet with their illegal activities.
Witnesses tell FBI that the senior Phua - sometimes called the “boss” - arrived in Vegas at the back of an arrest in Macau earlier for illegal gambling.
How he was released after the Macau police paraded him along with a few others, as seen in Chinese newspapers clippings, hooded and all, is “unknown”.
Barely a few weeks before his infamous arrest in Las Vegas, Phua was apprehended in Macau last June 19 alongside 20 others for promoting illegal gambling and criminal association following a raid on his room at Wynn Hotel.
The authorities seized around HK$5 billion (RM2.3 billion) in illegal bets made on the Brazil World Cup tournament, the South China Morning Post quoted Macau police saying.
However, Phua was freed a couple of days later under unknown conditions, but legal documents containing text messages from Darren suggests that his father might have “friends in the police” who aided in his release on June 23,2014.
Phua flew from the former Portuguese colony to Las Vegas in his private-owned Gulfstream G-550 business jet with the tail number N888XS, which according to the FBI notes is Phua’s lucky number.
High roller of the Caesars
Meanwhile early last June during the World Cup opening games, three complimentary villas on the Las Vegas strip in the famed Caesars Palace - numbered 8881, 8882 and 8888 - were readied for him - a red carpet welcome fit for a high roller.
Phua is reportedly also known to be actively involved in the gambling scene around Southeast Asia and internationally, even taking part in poker tournaments where stakes go up to seven-figure pots.
The FBI notes tell of how the reserved exclusive villas were fitted with various electronic equipment and communication facilities like fax machines and DSL cables at the request of the guests.
This smelt fishy, according to the FBI report, and the Caesars’ management at that point began to suspect the villas were being used as gambling dens.
Phua and his team had demanded complementary Wi-Fi with the installation of DSL lines and requested an “unusual amount of electronics equipment and technical support” for the villas to monitor World Cup soccer games in Brazil.
This was when the management realised the villas were being used to conduct an illegal Internet sports betting operation and they proceeded to inform the authorities, particularly the FBI.
The FBI, which was already keeping an eye on Phua after his elusive escape from Macau, decided to investigate the villas sending operatives posing as technicians.
Snooping in for the swoop
A Caesars Palace investigator told FBI agents that in one villa alone there were eight computers, five workstations, over 20 monitors, and additional large-screen televisions and Internet lines.
The court exhibits also show that the authorities worked alongside the DSL contractor to obtain enough evidence to raid the villas.
“The DSL contractor was sent to villa 8882 on July 4, 2014 to deliver a laptop requested by the occupants. That same day, the contractor also temporarily disconnected the internet service to villa 8881.
“When the defendants (Phua and associates) asked Caesars to restore the DSL connection in villa 8881, the DSL contractor entered alone and on his own initiative, used his cell phone to make a video of the Villa’s interior, which he delivered to the authorities,” the district attorney states in their defence.
Convinced they had a case, the FBI decided to see from themselves before launching a raid of the premises.
The very next day, FBI agents posed as DSL technicians and entered villa 8882 to confirm that illegal betting was taking place, on the pretext of restoring Internet connection in the villa that was disconnected earlier.
Four days later, on July 9, 2014, the FBI and Nevada Gaming Board Control stormed the three villas after obtaining a search warrant from a US magistrate judge.
Preparing themselves like a scene from the movies, the authorities arrived at Caesars in street clothes and prepped themselves in three rooms in the hotel.
Once the operation was given the go ahead, they suited up and followed a Caesars employee who led the agents into the villas via the internal service elevators.
The authorities reported that they found Phua in villa 8882 with his son and another associate, where an online message found on his computer revealed that he had put bets reaching a grand total of HK$2.7billion (RM1.24 billion), according to court documents.
The accused were stated using the SBOBet and IBCBet sports betting websites, neither of which is licensed to operate in Nevada, to monitor odds and place bets, according to federal prosecutors.
The authorities did not arrest them that day itself, but took pictures of the equipment installed in the room and seized the items.
The notes from the FBI in the 295-page exhibit ends at this point.
Arrested days later
Bloomberg reported that Phua was arrested four days later in the lobby of the Palazzo Hotel, even though he had agreed to surrender, according to the July 14 filing by his lawyer.
This news report also tells of how Darren spilled the beans on the father.
Father and son are currently facing two charges: operating an illegal gambling business and transmission of wagering information.
While the duo have pleaded not guilty to the crimes, the other six who were arrested along with them have pleaded guilty and have been slapped with unsupervised probation with special conditions and fines.
As the rest of six move out of the case, court transcripts in the main case against the Phuas for illegal gambling activities bring Zahid’s controversial letter - dated Dec 18 to clear Phua from all his links to the 14K triad - into the picture.
The Royal Malaysian Police had in an earlier report to the FBI furnished details linking Phua to the criminal organisation, details that Zahid, the minister in charge of the police is now refuting.
The triad link is one of the reasons the FBI cited in obtaining the warrant to raid the Caesars villas.
That the letter was submitted to court and then withdrawn on the very same day, December 29, raises many questions.
The next day Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post reported Zahid's clarification that Phua is not a member of 14K, reproducing the home minister’s letter in full.
Phua’s lawyers’ representatives in Malaysia who happened to be prominent Umno lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah held a press conference on January 3, explaining Zahid had been asked to clarify what was said to be the PDRM’s allegedly erroneous report to the FBI.
The government has yet to issue a formal statement on the scandal and various parties such as the inspector-general of police and the attorney-general have dodged the question, citing the case is ongoing in Las Vegas.
As for the Phuas, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported last July that they are currently out on bail, after two professional poker players Andrew Robl and Phil Ivey, who are understood to be friends of the accused duo, posted their US$2.7million (RM9.63million) bail.
Phua senior’s US$48million (RM 171 million) Gulfstream G550 jet was used as collateral.
He is under house arrest in Las Vegas.
On Friday, the US Attorney’s office in an email to Malaysiakini said there would be a status hearing on January 22 on the Phuas’ cases.
For now, the Macau - Las Vegas trip may likely be a one-way trip for Phua, the high roller. - M'kini
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