The High Court of Tokyo has denied a legal bid by Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada that might have enabled him to regain control of Universal Entertainment Corp., the company he founded that forced him out in 2017.
That defeat coincided with a setback in the Philippines, where a subsidiary of Universal operates an integrated resort, ironically named for Okada himself. The Parañaque Regional Trial Court in Manila has denied an attempt by Okada to overturn a Philippine arrest warrant in connection with allegations against him in that country of “estafa,” a form of fraud.
According to GGRAsia, the Tokyo court dismissed Okada’s appeal of a lower court decision that upheld a trust agreement relating to Hong Kong-based Okada Holdings Ltd., the majority shareholder of Universal Entertainment. Under that agreement, Okada’s daughter Hiromi had signed over voting rights in the family-related business to her brother Tomohiro, giving him effective control over the privately-held holding company.
With Hiromi’s 9 percent, Tomohiro held 53 percent of the voting rights in Okada Holdings; that majority was leveraged to oust Kazuo Okada from both Universal and a subsidiary, Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. last year. The decision foils Okada’s attempt to regain control over the company that owns Universal Entertainment and in turn Tiger Resort, the operator of Okada Manila.
The Tokyo High Court held that there was no legal basis to reverse the earlier decision of the district court against Hiromi. “For the reasons above, the original judgment is reasonable and this appeal is groundless. Accordingly, this court renders its judgment… to dismiss this appeal,” the High Court stated.
In a July 4th ruling, the Paranaque Regional Trial Court Branch 257 denied Okada’s plea to set aside warrants for his arrest over charges of estafa for allegedly misappropriating $3.1 million from Tiger Resort.
Okada allegedly took the money without approval from the TRLEI board. He was forcibly removed as chairman and CEO in 2017 due to “serious violation of governance” and was also kicked off the board of parent company Universal Entertainment, which he founded.
He was then ousted from Okada Holdings Ltd., which holds more than two-thirds of the stock of Universal Entertainment. Okada has taken legal action to regain control of Okada Holdings and has also filed suit in the Philippines to regain his place at TRLEI.
Okada scoffed at suggestions that he would steal mere millions, which he called a “measly amount of salaries.” In a statement, the billionaire said, “These cases are only intended to destroy my reputation in the business community and discredit all the hard work I have put into the establishment, rise and success of Okada Manila, which is now operated by my accusers.”
“How can I defraud the company that I own?” Okada asked.
