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Saturday, March 7, 2015

HOW NOW ZAHID? Kingpin Phua’s son pleads guilty to gambling charges in U.S.

Darren Phua, the son of gambling kingpin Paul Phua Wei Seng, has pleaded guilty to charges of running an illegal World Cup betting ring, a casino news website reported.
Casino news and guide website Casino.org on Thursday quoted Darren’s lawyers citing “homesickness” for Malaysia as the reason for changing his plea and accept a plea bargain.
The case made headlines in Malaysia after Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi issued a support letter for Paul Phua, saying he is assisting the government in national security projects.
“It remains to be seen whether Phua Senior (Paul Phua) will continue to fight the charges against him in light of his son’s capitulation.
“His defence team has always argued that the surveillance methods used by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators were an illegal, unconstitutional breach of the Phuas’ Fourth Amendment rights,” said the report on Thursday.
The US constitution's Fourth Amendment protects against “unreasonable search and seizure” by its government.
FBI agents had reportedly posed as Internet repairmen to gain entry on the Phuas’ alleged operation to gather video evidence on the supposed online gambling ring.
Paul, Darren, and six others were charged in a US court in July last year for their part in running the operation from Ceasars Palace, a top Las Vegas hotel.
Search warrant ‘fatally flawed’
Paul is the only person still claiming innocence, and is seeking to strike out his charges on basis of breaches in Fourth Amendment rights.
The FBI had obtained the search warrant from a judge using information which included a Malaysian police’s report that Paul was a member of an underground triad.
On the request of Paul’s lawyers, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had written a letter to the FBI clearing Paul of alleged links to the Hong Kong-based 14K triad.
Early last month, Paul scored a legal victory when a US federal judge recommended that evidence in the case be thrown out, stating that the search warrant was "fatally flawed."
According to judge Peggy Leen, 'false and misleading statements' were made by FBI agents in a sworn affidavit they submitted in seeking permission to search Paul’s villas in Ceasars Palace.
Paul, a Malaysian citizen, is found to have taken up Montenegrin citizenship somewhere between October 2013 and October 2014. - M'kini

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