Universal Ent says founder Okada appeal vs damages denied

Sep 20, 2021 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Casino investor Universal Entertainment Corp said in a Friday filing to Jasdaq that the Supreme Court in Japan had dismissed a final appeal by businessman Kazuo Okada (pictured in a file photo) regarding a case heard in the Tokyo High Court against its former chairman.

According to the filing, the Supreme Court chose – in its adjudication of September 14 – not to handle the case further in terms of its role as the final appellate court.

The filing stated Mr Okada had previously contested and appealed a judgment rendered by the Tokyo District Court on February 13, 2020, that accepted all of the claims Universal Entertainment had made as the plaintiff.

At that time, Universal Entertainment had said in a filing that Mr Okada was required to pay nearly JPY21.3 million - about US$194,000 at current exchange rates – in damages to Universal Entertainment, the conglomerate he founded but from which he was ousted in 2017.

The payment was said to be towards the cost of a special investigation launched by the group prior to his ousting, that decided he had engaged in “three acts of fraudulence” in relation to the company’s accounts regarding certain payments he ordered should be made by entities of the group.

Universal Entertainment had filed the damages suit against Mr Okada on the grounds he had breached his duty of care to be a”good manager”, and breached his “fiduciary duty of loyalty” as a director of the company.

His appeal against the Tokyo District Court’s finding was dismissed in September 2020 by the Tokyo High Court.

According to the latest filing, the cost of the final appeal and petition will be borne by the appellant and petitioner, i.e., Mr Okada’s side.

The latest filing also stated that on September 15 the Tokyo High Court had dismissed an appeal by Mr Okada regarding a defamation suit he brought against his former firm.

The entrepreneur had claimed Universal Entertainment had defamed him by investigating him and making public its claims of acts by him involving fraudulence.

Universal Entertainment controls via a subsidiary – Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc – the Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippine capital, Manila.

The harm Universal Entertainment claimed it incurred regarding fraudulent acts was related to a Hong Kong-registered entity called Tiger Resort Asia Ltd, which Universal Entertainment described as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

(Updated 10.30am, Sept 27)

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