Universal Ent affirms crime complaint in HK vs Kazuo Okada

Sep 13, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Japanese conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp affirmed in a Monday press release that it had filed a criminal complaint in Hong Kong (pictured), regarding its ousted founder Kazuo Okada’s May 31 physical takeover of the Okada Manila casino resort site in the Philippines.

The press release claimed Mr Okada’s side had been involved in “committing fraud and violence” during its takeover of Okada Manila.

The complaint stated, according to the press release: “As a result of Kazuo Okada’s criminal acts, the operations of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) and Okada Manila have been unjustly paralysed, and consequently TRAL [Tiger Resort Asia Ltd] has suffered significant and irreparable loss.”

The involvement of the Hong Kong jurisdiction is because privately-held TRAL – an entity tied to the ownership structure of Universal Entertainment and of Okada Manila – is a Hong Kong-registered firm.

TRAL is described in the release as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Universal Entertainment. TRAL owns 99.9 percent of TRLEI, the operator of Okada Manila.

Universal Entertainment included in its Monday announcement a copy of a Hong Kong notary receipt, dated September 8, purportedly certifying Mr Okada “was not and is not a director” of TRAL.

Control of the TRLEI entity has been disputed between Mr Okada and Universal Entertainment.

On September 7, the Court of Appeals in the Philippines denied a petition filed by representatives of Mr Okada to regain control of the TRLEI board.

The decision came less than a week after Universal Entertainment said it had taken back physical control of operations at the Okada Manila complex.

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