Prosecutors Mulling Appeal in Paul Phua FBI Ruse Case

Prosecutors on Friday missed a date to decide whether to appeal a federal judge's crippling decision tossing out evidence collected by FBI agents who posed as Internet repairmen during a Las Vegas Strip illegal bookmaking investigation.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said through a spokeswoman, Natalie Collins, that it could take several weeks for a decision whether to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to take the case.

"As a result, the government will not have a decision regarding an appeal by Monday," Collins said.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon had called this week for prosecutors to decide by Friday whether to drop criminal charges against Wei Seng "Paul" Phua.

Phua's defense attorneys, David Chesnoff and Thomas Goldstein, declined to comment ahead of a status check scheduled Monday before the judge.

Gordon this week severely undercut the government case when he decided to suppress as "fruit of a poisoned tree" all evidence collected last July from three Caesars Palace high-roller suites occupied by Phua and several other people.

Phua, 51, of Malaysia, was initially charged with of operating an illegal gambling business and transmission of wagering information, and prosecutors this month added a conspiracy count.

Now, instead of dismissing charges, the government might point to crimes committed by Phua's son and six other defendants who pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

They took plea deals that had them forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and fines, and got them banned from returning to the U.S. for five years.

The case against one defendant was dismissed. All seven returned home to Asia.

Phua remains in Las Vegas under house arrest after posting $2 million cash bond and surrendering a $50 million aircraft as collateral.

Prosecutors allege that Phua is a top member of an Asian organized crime syndicate who flew to Las Vegas on his private jet last June.

He had been arrested days earlier in the Asian gambling hub of Macau and released after being charged with operating an illegal sports-betting business.

While in Las Vegas, the government alleges, Phua headed an international Internet gambling ring that converted several Caesars Palace hotel suites to betting boiler rooms crammed with computers, Internet routers and cellphones.

Prosecutors allege the operation handled about $13 million in illegal bets during the FIFA World Cup.