Prosecutors refuse to abandon World Cup betting case

Federal prosecutors won’t throw in the towel in their illegal gambling case against wealthy Malaysian businessman Paul Phua.

In court papers Friday, prosecutors said they may ask the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn a federal judge’s order tossing out most of the evidence in the case.

They also raised concerns about a defense push to allow Phua to return to Malaysia to see his ailing mother while the criminal case remains unresolved.

Prosecutors argued Phua does not have a valid visa and would be unable to get back into the United States without permission from the departments of state and homeland security.

Defense lawyer David Chesnoff expressed disappointment with the government’s position.

“I hope that those who decide whether to appeal realize the better decision would be for law enforcement to learn the important constitutional lesson that you can’t violate the Fourth Amendment and bring closure to this case,” Chesnoff said.

In a written response to prosecutors, defense lawyers said they now want Phua released on his own recognizance and his $2 million bail and $48 million private jet returned.

“As matters stand, the government has no basis to detain defendant because, in addition to the presumption of innocence, there is so far as can be determined no evidence with which to prosecute him,” the lawyers wrote.

On Thursday U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon denied a prosecution request that he reconsider his order throwing out the evidence FBI agents seized from Caesars Palace villas during a July 9 raid on an alleged operation that accepted millions of dollars in illegal wagers on World Cup soccer.

Gordon said the evidence was the “fruit” of illegal FBI searches before the raid.

Phua, who is facing conspiracy and illegal gambling charges, is supposed to stand trial June 15. The judge set a hearing Monday to determine if he may leave the country and how to proceed with the case given the absence of the major evidence.

In court papers Friday, prosecutors said they won’t know by Monday if they will ask the 9th Circuit to intervene. That decision rests with the Justice Department’s solicitor general in Washington, and the process could take several weeks.

Phua, 51, a Strip high roller worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was among eight defendants from Malaysia and China charged in the international betting scheme.

Six defendants pleaded guilty and were each fined and sentenced to five years of probation with the condition they stay out of the U.S. during that period. The case against a seventh defendant was dismissed.

Last month, Gordon ruled that FBI agents violated Phua’s rights when they entered his Caesars Palace villa on July 9 posing as Internet repairmen to secretly gather evidence. He prohibited prosecutors from using any evidence agents obtained through the unprecedented ruse, which he said amounted to an illegal search.

Then, under the legal doctrine fruit of the poisonous tree, defense lawyers sought to bar prosecutors from using evidence seized from two other villas. One of the villas was alleged to have been operating as a betting boiler room with several computers and television monitors set up to handle the action.

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