Ivey, Robl And Cates Bail Out Alleged Illegal Sports Betting Ring

Home » Poker News » Ivey, Robl And Cates Bail Out Alleged Illegal Sports Betting Ring

Monday, August 4th, 2014 | Written by Stephen Smith

In the latest update to the Paul Phua sports betting case, three more of the eight defendants originally arrested as part of the alleged FIFA World Cup online betting operation have now been released on bail after the involvement of some of the most famous poker players in the game.

Previously, Phil Ivey and Andrew Robl posted a combined $2.5 million to have high-stakes Macau businessman Wei Seng “Paul” Phua, 50, (photo) and his son Wai Kit “Darren” Phua, 22, released from the Las Vegas’ Henderson Detention Center. Now, pokers’ biggest names have come to the accused’s rescue once again, this time with Phil Ivey and Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates posting $1.5 million to bail out wealthy Malaysian businessman Seng Chen “Richard” Yong, 56, and his son Wai Kin Yong.

During the bail hearing, 10-times WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey, said “I have the utmost respect and trust for them.”

Also released was Hui Tang, who posted his own $1.5 million bail and will be staying at Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s house as part of his legal conditions, while the Yongs will lodge at poker professional Gabe Patgorski’s home while they are out on bail.

Illegal Sports Betting

In mid-July, Paul Phua, Sen Chen (Richard) Yong, Wai Kin Yong, and Hui Tang were among eight people arrested for apparently operating an illegal online betting ring out of three high-roller villas at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. According to the indictment, the operators handled more than $360 million in sports bets mostly from Asian gamblers, but also from some US residents, before the FBI raided and shut down the alleged international sports betting ring.

The FBI believes Paul Phua was the mastermind behind the operation, a Chinese investment banker with an estimated $400 million fortune and a driving forces behind Macau’s nosebleed “Big Game.” In addition, Paul Phua, also known as Wei Seng Phua, is thought to be a member of the 14K Triad, a criminal organization associated with illegal gambling and prostitution, although Phua’s lawyer has vehemently denied such claims.

Each of the men named in the illegal online betting operation now face a $250k fine for each of the counts they are found guilty, and from two to five years behind bars.

Caesars Palace blows whistle

Caesars Palace originally provided three private villas for their high-rolling guests, but the casino’s technical staff became suspicions of possible illegal activities after their wealthy customers requested an “unusual amount of electronics,” as well as eight DSL lines to be installed in the villas where they were staying. All told, the villas had a total of 15 computers with three monitors attached to each.

The situation, however, came to a head after a member of Caesars Palace’s technical staff spotted the PC screens showing information similar to that of the casino’s very own sports betting operation, and as an article in flushdraw.net, explains:

“Phua’s group occasionally placed calls for emergency technical service, but otherwise denied Caesars staff ordinary access to the villas. It was on one of the emergency support visits, however, that a Caesars technician first espied the possible gambling operation being conducted on the premises, and according to the complaint, surreptitiously snapped a few photos on his cell phone.”

Macau and Hong Kong’s role in global online gambling industry

Macau and Hong Kong are believed to be the world’s two biggest illegal online gambling operators with massive turnovers predominantly feeding in and out of mainland China.

Of the eight people charged with the alleged online gambling crimes by the Nevada District attorney, four were from Malaysia, three from Hong Kong and one from China. Furthermore, Phua has told police he has investments in IBCbet, one of Asia’s biggest online gambling sites with a turn over of billions of dollars each month from its Philippines base. Considering operators usually charge a commission of around 1% of turnover their potential earnings are huge.

Worldwide, it is estimated around 80% of online betting is carried out in illegal markets, and commenting on what Paul Phua’s arrest means for online betting in general, Director of Sport Integrity Chris Eaton, said:

“There is more to play out here, but the arrests in Macau and Las Vegas begin to officially expose the true wealth, greed and shady operations too commonly found in the global sports betting industry. This exposure must be driven further, deeper and led by governments in search of financial transparency, stability and for the protection of citizens and sport.”