Malaysian Government stands for Phua

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has informed U.S. authorities that Paul Phua Wei-seng, indicted for operating an illegal sports betting operation from a Las Vegas villa (see reports), is not a member of Hong Kong’s 14K triad as suspected but in fact assists the Malaysian Government in areas of national security.

The letter addressed to the Deputy Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Mark Guiliano which is dated December 18, 2014 says: “Mr Phua has, on numerous occassions [sic], assisted the Government of Malaysia on projects affecting our national security and accordingly we continue to call upon him to assist us from time to time and as such we are eager for him to return to Malaysia.”

Phua’s legal team David Chesnoff and Tom Goldstein submitted the letter to a Las Vegas District Court Monday in response to the submission of a report dating back to 2008 which was presented by US prosecutors indicating Phua was linked to the 14K triad.

The 2008 document reportedly originated from the Royal Malaysian Police.

The full text of the letter can be found at: http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/12/30/malaysialetter.pdf