GGRAsia – Kazuo Okada absent from TRLEI board meeting: Universal

Kazuo Okada absent from TRLEI board meeting: Universal

Sep 09, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada (pictured in file photo) did not take part in a Wednesday meeting of the reinstated board of Tiger Resort, Leisure & Entertainment Inc (TRLEI), despite being a director of the company, said Japan-based conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp in a Friday release.

TRLEI is the entity directly overseeing the Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippine capital. Universal Entertainment has been battling since late May with its ousted founder Kazuo Okada for control of Okada Manila.

Universal Entertainment said on Sunday it had taken over the operations of the Okada Manila complex. The step followed an order from the country’s gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), that returned control of the property to Tiger Resort Asia Ltd (TRAL), a privately-held Hong Kong firm that is the immediate parent of TRLEI, with the ultimate parent being Universal Entertainment.

Universal Entertainment said previously that Mr Okada would be “recognised in the board” of TRLEI “for now” in compliance with the Supreme Court order issued in April “which temporarily restored him to his position prior to his ouster,” as stockholder, director, chairman and chief executive of TRLEI.

In a Friday statement, Universal Entertainment said Mr Okada had been invited to a Wednesday board meeting of TRLEI. The Japanese firm said the invitation was in respect to the Supreme Court’s order and the Pagcor resolution issued last week.

Mr Okada “did not join the board meeting in person or via video conference,” said Universal Entertainment.

The release cited TRLEI’s chief financial officer and board director, Hans Van der Sande, as saying that Wednesday’s board meeting was “peacefully conducted”. He added: “It was a successful exercise of our administrative and operational management to bring the business back into the normal course of operations.”

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals in the Philippines denied a petition filed by representatives of Mr Okada to regain control of the board of TRLEI.

The court decided to deny a petition for a temporary restraining order to stop Pagcor and TRAL from changing the composition of TRLEI’s board. The court cited “lack of authority” for its ruling.