KUALA LUMPUR: The government said yesterday that Paul Phua Wei Seng, who is being tried in a court in the United States for illegal gaming, does not have a criminal record despite reports claiming he had been convicted of the crime in 2004.

“According to police records, Paul Phua Wei Seng does not have a previous criminal record,” said Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a written parliamentary reply to Puchong MP, Gobind Singh Deo (DAP).

Malaysiakini reported in January that Phua was once held in Miri, Sarawak, on gambling charges in connection with the Euro Cup 2004.

Sources told the portal that Phua was convicted and fined.

The report said he paid the fine and left the country and was denied entry into Malaysia during the 2008 World Cup.

Phua and his son Darren are currently standing trial in the US over a multimillion-dollar betting scheme. They were alleged to have accepted wagers on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 10, 2015.