In sting operation last July , undercover FBI agents gained access to a hotel suite by disabling the hotel 's Internet , and then posing as Internet repair technicians . Now one of the suspects who was charged in the sting is crying foul . At Caesar 's Palace , a casino hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas , FBI agents deliberately cut off the Internet for a suite used by Paul Phua , a high-stakes gambler . Then , they showed up at the suite and made a bogus service call . On their undercover video , you can hear the imposters asking their targets what the trouble is . `` Good morning . We 're going to see if we can get the DSL working again , '' one of them says . But during the visit , the agents were actually videotaping the hotel room and its occupants in secret , looking for evidence of online gambling . Phua was subsequently charged with operating an illegal gambling business , some of which was allegedly conducted using the computers set up at the hotel . Authorities allege he is a high-ranking member of the 14-K triad , an Asian crime syndicate . But he is fighting the charges , saying they are based on evidence collected under false pretenses , and that any evidence obtained through a warrantless search based on deception should be tossed out . `` The evidence is the fruit of a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment , '' his lawyers said in a court filing . The FBI declined to comment , referring inquiries to the prosecutor 's office in Las Vegas . The prosecutors ' office said it will respond in court to the complaint , but could not comment to the media on a pending case . But former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes , who served on the agency 's review committee for undercover operations for five years , said undercover operations are carefully reviewed before they are conducted , including by agency lawyers . `` The idea that the entire division went rogue and ran this operation without FBI headquarters ' concurrence , or senior executive management concurrence and approval , and the United States attorneys , it just does n't sound right to me , '' Fuentes said . He also said a citizen might not be able to expect the same right to privacy in the common room of his hotel suite , as he would at home in his bedroom . But Tom Goldstein , an attorney for Phua , says the public should be concerned that authorities are trying to surreptitiously conduct searches , using a service interruption as a pretext . `` The danger here is that agents will cut off not only the Internet , but your electricity , your phone , your cable television , '' said Goldstein , `` or at least , you 'll worry that it 's the government -- every time you have a problem in your house -- that maybe it 's an undercover agent that responds . ''
The FBI was investigating online gambling . Agents disabled the Internet at a hotel suite used by a suspect . Posing as technicians , the agents videotaped the room and its occupants in secret . Attorney : If citizens call for for repair `` maybe it 's an undercover agent that responds ''