Okada Manila unharmed by legal case

Head of Pagcor confirmed that the operations of the casino should not be affected by the legal case involving Kazuo Okada.

Philippines.- Andrea Domingo, head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), reported that Okada Manila operations won’t be harmed by the investigation that is being carried away against the founder and Chairman at the slot manufacturer Universal Entertainment Corp, Kazuo Okada.

Okada and Yoshinao Negishi, the company’s Director, are believed to have transferred US$17.3 million from Tiger Resort Asia Ltd to another company on March 2015. Last month, Universal informed in a filing to the JASDAQ Securities Exchange that it had appointed a Special Investigation Committee to dig into the affair. The report indicates that the loan was made without the “proper internal decision-making processes.” After the initial transfer, the second company also moved US$16.7 million to another one called Okada Holdings Ltd., at which Universal’s founder was Director at the time. Said money movement is apparently intended to bring personal benefit to Okada, according to the report presented to Universal’s Board of Directors.

Domingo believes that the removal of Okada as chairman doesn’t make a difference for Okada Manila operations because under the corporate laws the person is different from the corporate entity. “If a person commits wrongdoing that’s their problem. It is an internal problem and they would have to elect new directors which our board has to approve,” the official added. “[Kazuo] Okada only owns 1 percent of Tiger Leisure [sic] in the Philippines and another director owns another 1 percent. The rest is owned by other investors.”