High roller Paul Phua walks free from US court as gambling case collapses

Former Macau junket operator and multimillionaire Paul Phua Wei-seng walked free from court yesterday after a Las Vegas judge dismissed an illegal gambling case against him on the back of constitutional violations.

The high-rolling professional poker player is now free to return to his native Malaysia and will be given back his US$48 million private jet, his passport and US$2 million bail – much of which had been paid by two US poker stars.

The dismissal of the illegal gaming and conspiracy charges brings to a close a high-profile case that grabbed headlines worldwide since Phua, 51, was arrested during a raid on a series of luxury villas at the Caesars Palace resort last July.

The raid by federal agents provided prosecutors with a glut of materials allegedly linking Phua to an online soccer World Cup betting scheme worth millions of dollars.

However, last week US District Judge Andrew Gordon tossed the bulk of the evidence on the basis that the search warrant for the raid was flawed due to errors and omissions by the US authorities.

Gordon also said that Phua had his privacy rights violated when FBI agents, posing as internet repairmen, went undercover into the residence in a bid to gather information before the raid.

Prosecutors fought the decision to dismiss the case, but Gordon said it was the appropriate decision considering there was no longer evidence to present at the trial, slated to begin in two weeks.