Lawyers: Agents spied on suspects in World Cup betting scheme

FBI and state gaming agents illegally obtained evidence and spied on the defendants they later charged in a multimillion-dollar World Cup betting scheme, defense lawyers have alleged.

The agents shut off the Internet service at luxury Caesars Palace villas occupied by the defendants in July and with the resort’s help posed as technicians to enter the rooms to determine the extent of what they believed was an illegal gambling operation, according to federal court papers filed late Tuesday.

Agents later used what they saw in the rooms to obtain search warrants from a federal magistrate to raid the villas and ultimately arrested the defendants.

“The searches were unconstitutional,” attorneys Thomas Goldstein and David Chesnoff said in the court papers seeking to suppress the evidence agents seized. “This is not a close case.”

They added, “A ruling upholding these intrusions would cause innocent Americans to live their daily lives burdened with the palpable fear that their government is regularly scheming to spy on them in their homes.”

Eight defendants, seven men and one woman, were indicted in July in the scheme. Each faces one count of transmission of illegal wagering information and one count of operating an illegal gambling business, both felonies.

Goldstein and Chesnoff represent two of the defendants — Malaysian businessmen Wei Seng “Paul” Phua, 50, and his son Darren Phua, 23. Both have been released on bail posted by Phil Ivey and another well-known poker professional.

In separate court papers, Chesnoff also is seeking to prevent prosecutors from using any statements the Phuas made while they were handcuffed and detained for more than five hours during the July 9 raid.

Chesnoff said that his clients’ Fifth Amendment rights were violated and they were denied an opportunity to speak with their lawyers.

Defense lawyers also want the evidence seized with the search warrants suppressed on grounds agents misled a magistrate judge into signing the warrants.

Prosecutors will get a chance to respond to the defense allegations in writing.

Authorities believe Paul Phua and co-defendant Seng Chen “Richard” Yong, both well-known at poker tables in Las Vegas and Macau, were ringleaders of a betting ring that accepted millions of dollars in wagers on the World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil.

The indictment alleges the defendants ran the illegal operation from June 6 through their July 13 arrests.

In a criminal complaint, the FBI alleged that the elder Phua was “known by law enforcement to be a high-ranking member of the 14K Triad,” one of the world’s largest criminal syndicates.

Hong Kong-based 14K Triad specializes in drug trafficking and traditional forms of criminal activity, including illegal gambling, prostitution and loan sharking.

Phua and more than 20 other people were arrested June 18 in Macau for running a large gambling operation that took in hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal bets on the World Cup, the Las Vegas FBI complaint alleged.

After his arrest in Macau, Phua was released on bail and flew to Las Vegas on his private jet, where he and his associates are alleged to have resumed their illegal gambling at Caesars Palace, according to the complaint.