Malaysian opposition demands probe into minister's claim gambling kingpin Paul Phua assisted national security
People’s Justice Party Communications Director Fahmi Fadzil calls for inquiry into comments made by Home Affairs minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in letter to senior FBI official
A key Malaysian opposition party member has demanded an inquiry into remarks made by the country’s home affairs minister that former Macau junket operator and Asian gambling kingpin Paul Phua Wei-seng was assisting the government with matters of national security.
The call for the probe comes on the back of a report in the South China Morning Post last week that documented a letter sent by Malaysian cabinet minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to a senior FBI official vouching for the integrity of Phua, 50, who is currently facing illegal-bookmaking charges in Las Vegas.
“Mr Zahid writing the letter comes across as very shocking not only because the letter attempts to exonerate Paul Phua, who clearly has a chequered past, but also because Mr Zahid claims that Mr Phua has assisted with ‘projects of national security,’” Fahmi Fadzil, communications director of the opposition People’s Justice Party, told the Post on Saturday.
“I will be discussing with several Members of Parliament on formally requesting a response from Mr Zahid in the Malaysian Parliament.”
Sarawak native Phua and his son stand accused of running an illicit gambling operation from luxury suites at the Nevada city’s Caesar’s Palace Hotel during the soccer world cup last year.