Most defendants in World Cup betting case will plead guilty

Five of the eight defendants charged in an alleged World Cup betting scheme have agreed to plead guilty in federal court next week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has learned.

Charges against a sixth defendant are being dismissed.

The remaining defendants, Malaysian businessman Paul Phua, 50 and his son Darren, 23, plan to go to trial on illegal gambling charges stemming from the multimillion-dollar scheme.

“We are not guilty as we always maintained,” their Las Vegas lawyer, David Chesnoff, said Thursday. “It is our intention to fight the unconstitutional conduct of the federal government for our clients and for the rest of the public.”

The plea deals follow at least two weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The five defendants — Richard Yong, Hui Tang, Yan Zhang, Yung Keung Fan and and Herman Chun Sang Yeung — are to enter pleas on Tuesday and Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon. The court docket says the defendants, all of whom live outside the United States, also are to be sentenced next week.

All but one of the five defendants who struck deals with federal prosecutors are pleading guilty to misdemeanors, lawyers involved in the case said. Tang has agreed to plead guilty to a felony gambling charge.

The case against Yong’s son, Wai Kin Yong, is being dismissed, the lawyers said.

His San Diego lawyer, Michael Pancer, declined to comment on the plea deals. So did Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office.

Earlier this week, Chesnoff and Washington-area lawyer Thomas Goldstein filed court papers arguing FBI agents recklessly submitted evidence in sworn search warrant affidavits falsely linking Paul Phua and Richard Yong to a Chinese crime syndicate.

They contended the “flimsy” evidence was designed to mislead a federal judge into authorizing the July raid on the international gambling operation at Caesars Palace.

The lawyers argued that the government had little evidence to support its claim that Phua and Yong, the alleged the leaders of the betting ring, were tied to the Hong Kong-based 14K Triad, one of the world’s largest crime organizations.

Last month, the Review-Journal reported that FBI agents had obtained new evidence during the raid tying a reputed ranking member of another Chinese Triad to the betting ring that accepted wagers on the World Cup soccer tournament.

Documents seized by agents show a Macau casino junket company associated with Cheung Chi-Tai — whom authorities have identified as a leader of the Hong Kong-based Wo Hop To Triad — was among several companies the betting organization is believed to have used to settle wagers with its wealthy customers.

The evidence was part of hundreds of pages of exhibits attached to court papers filed by federal prosecutors defending the July 9 raid at three luxury Caesars Palace villas occupied by the eight defendants. Days before the raid, agents enlisted the help of Caesars Palace and one of its Internet contractors to pose as technicians and get a glimpse inside the high-tech gambling operation.

Defense lawyers have denied any ties between the World Cup betting group and Cheung.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.