- Joined
- Dec 21, 2012
- Messages
- 293
- Points
- 0
Gambling kingpin and '14K triad member' Paul Phua under house arrest in Las Vegas
Former top Macau junket operator arrested in Las Vegas is believed to be behind one of the world’s largest online gambling websites, Manila-based IBCBet
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 29 July, 2014, 12:53pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 29 July, 2014, 8:13pm
Patrick Boehler, Bryan Harris and Raquel Carvalho
Paul Phua at a recent poker tournament in Australia. Photo: SCMP Pictures
US federal immigration officials released Asian gambling kingpin Paul Phua from custody on Monday evening in the latest twist to an unfolding saga centred around the alleged senior member of Hong Kong’s 14K triad.
The former top Macau junket operator, 50, who has company holdings in Hong Kong, is believed to be the man behind one of the world’s largest online gambling websites, Manila-based IBCBet.
When US federal police searched three villas run by the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas on July 9, they found Phua and his son Darren, 22, and six other Asians, including three Hong Kongers and one Chinese national, allegedly running a betting operation on the soccer World Cup from the hotel.
Bets had reached a “grand total” of HK$2.7 billion by July 5, according to an online message on one of the computers found in the villas. The message referred to Phua as “boss”.
The eight have since been charged with operating an illegal gambling business and transmission of wagering information, two criminal felonies under Nevada law punishable by a jail sentence of up to seven years.
While their arrests were reported earlier this month, an investigation by the South China Morning Post on Sunday revealed the true extent of Phua’s online gambling empire.
IBCBet handles more than US$2 billion in wagers every week, according to an estimate by Chris Eaton, executive director for integrity with the International Centre for Sport Security in Doha, Qatar, and former director of security for world soccer federation Fifa.
A Nevada court granted Phua bail on condition that he surrendered his Gulfstream private jet and lodged US$2 million with the court. Two professional poker players, Andrew Robl and Phillip Ivey, put up Phua’s bail, court records seen by the Post show.
Ivey put up an additional US$500,000 for the release of Phua’s son Darren. The jet has also been impounded as a condition of Darren Phua’s bail.
Robl said that he paid the bail with money he won playing poker at the Aria Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Officers with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement prevented the release on bail of the two Phuas by detaining the Malaysian citizens for possible deportation, the Las Vegas Review Journal said.
However on Monday evening the investigative authority under the Department of Homeland Security released the two men.
“We are gratified that our clients are free, and they’re looking forward to telling their side of the story in court,” David Chesnoff, lawyer for the Phuas, told the Journal after his clients’ release from custody at the Henderson Detention Centre on the southern outskirts of Las Vegas.
Chesnoff’s law firm did not reply to a request for comment by the Post. The US Immigration and Customs did not respond to requests for information by the Post, despite a promise to do so.
Paul Phua’s detention for deportation led to speculation that he could be deported to Macau, where he might have violated bail conditions.
He was among 22 people arrested in Macau in June in a raid of guest rooms at the Wynn Hotel. He was charged with “promoting illegal gambling” and “criminal association” but later released on bail.
Macau police declined to comment on whether Phua violated his bail conditions in Macau when he flew to Las Vegas, where he was arrested again.
Macau authorities were not involved in the arrest in Las Vegas, a spokesperson for the territory’s police said.
Phua’s preliminary hearing in Nevada is scheduled for August 4. Until then, he is expected to stay under house arrest at the home of local gynaecologist and poker enthusiast Craig Hartman.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Phua's private jet was a Bombardier jet. It is, in fact, a Gulfstream.
