The Malaysian citizen with roots in Sarawak was Macau’s top earning junket operator a decade ago, before becoming a prominent high-stakes poker player. In 2011, he was granted a diplomatic passport by the European microstate of San Marino as its ambassador to Montenegro.
In June, Phua was arrested in Macau in a crackdown on an online betting ring that, according to Macau police, took HK$5 billion in wavers. He was deported from the territory.
The raid remains the largest strike on illegal bookmaking in the gambling hub’s history.
The Las Vegas trial’s other defendants – who include three Hongkongers and Malaysian junket operator Richard Yong Seng-chen – this week pleaded guilty to misdemeanours and were sentenced to unsupervised probation and fines.
To have one dodgy ambassador might be considered unfortunate, but San Marino seems to specialise in them – particularly ambassadors with Sarawak connections.
What on earth was the Sarawak born gambling operator Paul Phua doing as the European principality’s ambassador to Montenegro?
Likewise, the Sarawak connected fraudster Achileas Kallakis, since jailed in London, has held a string of San Marino ambassadorships to Brunei, then Greece and then Thailand. Kallakis was one of the key initiators of Prince Albert of Monaco’s sponsorship of the Taib family’s Royal Mulu Resort.
It would appear that these ambassadorships have an ulterior use, certainly for those who are so eagerly taking them up.
Are they for sale?