Zahid says gambling kingpin has no criminal record

By admin-s On Apr 9, 2015

(TMI) – Putrajaya today said that Paul Phua Wei Seng, the gambling kingpin currently being tried in a US court, does not have a criminal record despite reports claiming he had been convicted for illegal betting in 2004.

“According to police records, Paul Phua Wei Seng does not have a previous criminal record,” said Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a written parliamentary reply to Puchong MP, Gobind Singh Deo (DAP).

Malaysiakini had reported in January that Phua was once held in Miri, Sarawak, on gambling charges in connection with the Euro Cup 2004.

Sources told the portal that Phua was charged and convicted and was slapped with a fine.

The report said he paid the fine and left the country and was subsequently denied entry into Malaysia during the 2008 World Cup.

Phua and his son Darren are currently standing trial in the United States over a multimillion-dollar betting scheme. They were alleged to have accepted wagers on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

It was also reported that Phua had accepted citizenship from Montenegro between October 2013 and October 2014.

This was before Zahid had written a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), vouching for Phua and declaring that he was not a member of the Hong Kong 14K triad.

Zahid also told the FBI that Phua had helped Putrajaya in national security projects.