Macau gambling kingpin facing charges in the US was an envoy for San Marino

Asian gambling kingpin and alleged triad member Paul Phua Wei-seng was San Marino's ambassador to Montenegro for more than three years until the tiny city state revoked his diplomatic status shortly after his arrest in Las Vegas earlier this month on illegal betting charges.

The 50-year-old Macau junket operator was nominated to be the European microstate's ambassador in 2011 and has held a diplomatic passport since then, according to the San Marino Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The tiny country is located in central Italy. 

Phua had, however, never submitted his credentials to the Montenegrin authorities, a step which would formalise his ambassadorship, the foreign ministry of the former Yugoslav republic said.

The development adds another twist to the evolving saga of the Malaysian businessman, who rose to be one of Macau's top junket operators. He later became a leading figure in global online gambling, a grey industry worth trillions of Hong Kong dollars every year, industry sources told the South China Morning Post.

A native of the Sarawak beach town of Miri, Phua is understood to hold shares in IBCBet, one of the world's largest online betting platforms based in the Philippines.