Federal judge to hear arguments in Phua case

Wednesday 25th of March 2015

A federal judge is now deciding the fate of Paul Phua, a gambling mogul who was arrested in July after FBI agents posed as Internet repairmen to enter his Las Vegas suite and raid an illegal multi-million dollar betting operation Phua was allegedly running during the World Cup.

Defense attorneys argued on Monday that the way agents deceived Phua by having his Internet cut off so they could enter and secretly film his room was wrong and that the evidence collected should be thrown out, the Associated Press reported.

"You do not get to lie to the defendant," about the underlying purposes of the searches, defense attorney Thomas Goldstein was quoted as saying.

Federal prosecutors said the government had done nothing malicious and had not violated Phua's constitutional rights. They defended the government's actions in seizing the evidence from the Caesars Palace suites.

In February U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen said the FBI made false statements when seeking a judge’s permission to search the villas, concluding the search warrant was invalid and recommended tossing out the evidence.

Phua is now standing trial alone after the other six defendants, including his son Darren, pleaded guilty to lesser charges and forfeited large amounts of money and returned to Asia. Charges against one defendant were dismissed.