In total eight men were arrested in July after federal agents posed as repair technicians and raided three villas at the

More like a play from Ocean's 11 than the standard operating guidebook for FBI undercover operations, agents tricked their way inside three luxury villas at Ceasars Palace, Las Vegas, to gather evidence to bust an illegal sports betting ring.

To get away with their incredible ruse, federal agents first turned off Internet access to the villas then impersonated repair technicians to gain entry to get around a warrant, according to defense lawyers challenging the practice.

Dramatic new video, filmed through the lapel camera carried by one of the undercover agent's, shows the level of subterfuge that the FBI used to bust the soccer World Cup gambling ring in Sin City.

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Undercover: Federal agents impersonated repair technicians at the Caesars Palace resort in Las Vegas to surreptitiously collect evidence in an investigation of online sports betting during the 2014 World Cup

The video shows investigators devising code words to use while they were inside, a back-and-forth about the cover story for an agent, who adopted the name 'Sam,' which he had used 'for other stuff' in the past, and a brief exchange about how another investigator should dress for the role of a technical repair nerd.

'If you put on that shirt, you have to look the part. Go all the way,' said Mike Wood, an outside technician working for Caesars, advising Nevada Gaming Control Board Agent Ricardo Lopez before Lopez headed to one of the suites the morning of July 4. An FBI agent, Mike Kung, accompanied him also undercover.

The AP obtained about 30 minutes of audio and video recordings of the covert reconnaissance.

Inside the Las Vegas villa, Lopez appeared to try to fix an Internet outage for several minutes while glancing around the room and asking more than once to view a laptop screen to verify that Internet connectivity was still down. Defense lawyers said in their filing that Kung, the FBI agent, was sent inside because he spoke Chinese.

Still undercover, Lopez appeared to call Wood from inside the villa and asked him to 'check the frame,' the code they had previously worked out. In a brief back and forth, Wood responded that he would 'trace the wire and make sure it's tied down good.'

The FBI employed the ruse against the recommendation of an assistant U.S. attorney, Kimberly Frayn, according to lawyers for four of eight men charged in the case.

Defense lawyer Thomas Goldstein, who is challenging evidence the government collected in what he described as an illegal search, said that was code to turn Internet access back on.

Caught out: Wei Seng Phua, second from left, and his son Darren Wai Kit Phua, third from left, were two of the eight men arrested in July for their role in the multimillion-dollar World Cup betting scheme

Trickery: The FBI agents obtained their secret surveillance in a manner that Danny Ocean (played by George Clooney, in the Ocean's 11 trilogy) would have been proud of

After the agents left the villa, Lopez was recorded saying he saw the Internet address of the website that defendant Wei Seng Phua was operating, adding, 'Phua had the odds up on his page the whole time.' Federal authorities described Phua, 50, as a high-ranking member of the 14k Triad, a Chinese organized crime group. Goldstein said Phua denied that allegation, which he said had nothing to do with the criminal case in Nevada.

Phua, his son Darren Wai Kit Phua, Seng Chen Yong, Wai Kin Yong and four others were arrested in July after federal agents raided three high-roller villas at the hotel. All eight face charges of transmission of wagering information, operating an illegal gambling business, and aiding and abetting. None of defendants has entered a plea, but Goldstein said they all deny wrongdoing.

Phua also faces charges of running an illegal sports gambling business in Macau. He was arrested in the Chinese gambling enclave on June 18 and flew to Las Vegas a few days later.

The FBI employed the ruse against the recommendation of an assistant U.S. attorney, Kimberly Frayn, according to defense lawyers. They filed a 54-page motion late Tuesday night in federal court in Las Vegas to dismiss evidence in the case. According to a conversation recorded by an investigator for the hotel, the prosecutor told FBI agents 'it was a consent issue,' the lawyers said.

Over two days in early July, FBI agents worked with a hotel computer contractor and the state's gaming control board to shut off the Internet at different times and at one point delivered a laptop computer to try to see what was happening, according to the court filing.

Investigators eventually gained access after they turned off the Internet connection to two suites, impersonated repair technicians and recorded video inside. Authorities later used the videos to obtain a warrant to arrest the men.

In the criminal complaint, federal agents said the videos showed evidence of an illegal online sports gambling operation being run out of the villas. Prosecutors did not mention in the criminal complaint what caused the Internet outages.

Defense lawyer Thomas Goldstein said lawyers learned about the ruse only when they reviewed the video recordings and heard an official make reference to turning off the Internet access.

Ongoing case: All eight men face charges of transmission of wagering information, operating an illegal gambling business, and aiding and abetting - they all deny wrongdoing

'They were trying everything they could to get inside without a warrant,' Goldstein told the AP.

A former federal prosecutor, Mark Rasch, said the ploy probably will not stand up in court.

'Police are allowed to use a certain kind of subterfuge, but what they can't do is create a certain kind of circumstance,' Rasch said.

In the gambling case, Wei Seng Phua, his son Darren Wai Kit Phua, Seng Chen Yong and Wai Kin Yong and four others were arrested in July after federal agents raided the three high-roller villas at the hotel.

All eight face charges of transmission of wagering information, operating an illegal gambling business, and aiding and abetting. None of defendants has entered a plea, but Goldstein said Tuesday they all deny wrongdoing.

Wei Seng Phua, 50, also faces charges of running an illegal sports gambling business in Macau. He was arrested in the Chinese gambling enclave on June 18 and flew to Las Vegas a few days later.

In a criminal complaint, federal authorities described him as a high-ranking member of the 14k Triad, a Chinese organized crime group.

Goldstein said Wei Seng Phua also denied that allegation, which he said had nothing to do with the criminal case in Nevada.

Under U.S. law, a person whose property is inspected generally must waive his constitutional protections against unreasonable searches unless authorities obtain a warrant. Evidence collected improperly is not supposed to be used at trial.

The FBI in Las Vegas referred questions about the practice to the U.S. Attorney's Office there. Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden, said prosecutors were aware of the allegations being made by defense lawyers but declined to comment, citing a pending trial.

The gambling case was at least the third to surface in recent weeks raising questions about tactics by federal agents pursuing criminal investigations.

The Drug Enforcement Administration set up a fake Facebook account using photographs and other personal information it took from the cellphone of a New York woman arrested in a cocaine case in hopes of tricking her friends and associates into revealing incriminating drug secrets.