Attorneys for Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada are seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleges Hajime Tokuda, onetime Japanese director of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), was illegally detained and coerced when Okada’s team seized control of Okada Manila, an integrated resort (IR) in the Philippines’ capital city.
According to the Philippine Star, Kazuo’s lawyers informed the Department of Justice that the suit should be dismissed on its face and for lack of evidence. They said that Tokuda, on being served the status quo ante order (SQAO) that restored Okada’s control of the resort named for him, “immediately complied and willingly surrendered his company ID and voluntarily agreed to be taken home. A copy of CCTV footage showed Tokuda peacefully left the hotel’s premises and was escorted by security personnel and was to his residence.”
The SQAO, issued by the Philippine Supreme Court, cleared the way for Kazuo Okada to take back the $3.3 billion integrated resort and casino in Entertainment City in Parañaque in late May. He was ousted from his own company in 2017, amid reports that he embezzled company funds.
“The affidavit further proves that Tokuda was never under duress,” Okada’s lawyers continued. “His personal phone was not taken from him and was not prevented by the security personnel that accompanied him from using the same.”
On the charge of grave coercion, the lawyers said the SQAO made the plaintiffs “squatters and trespassers who had no business holding office in Okada Manila, much less inside the golden ballroom.”
The accusations go both ways. Inside Asian Gaming reported last week that the Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. (TRAL)-backed board of TRLEI has accused Kazuo Okada’s representatives of taking money from the casino cage after its bank accounts were frozen in June.
At a July 27 press conference, attorneys for the ejected board Estrella Elamparo called the incoming group “interlopers.”
“Right now all the bank accounts of Okada Manila have been frozen because of the dispute,” she said. “We know they are getting money from the cage of the casino, and this is a highly irregular situation. Because of our fear that the funds are being dissipated we are really hoping that the Supreme Court will (quickly) decide the case pending before it.
“All the pleadings, all the submissions have been made, so any day now, the Supreme Court can decide. We are really hoping and praying that it will be soon.”
In a press release, Tomohiro Okada, who controls 53.27 percent of the voting rights in Okada Holdings Ltd., slammed his father’s takeover and said he is “organizing the boards of OHL, (Universal Entertainment Corp.), and TRAL to immediately address this issue, work with our legal teams and seek redress from the High Court of the Philippines to put to rest the Kazuo group’s futile attempt at what is truly a shameful corporate heist.”
