Booted from board in June
The head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the country’s state-run gaming regulator, says operations at Okada Manila, the newest resort in Manila’s Entertainment City, should not be affected by an investigation of alleged financial misconduct by Japanese gaming entrepreneur Kazuo Okada.
Okada’s ouster as chairman of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment “really doesn’t make a difference because under our corporate laws the person is different from the corporate entity,” PAGCOR Chairwoman Andrea Domingo told GamblingCompliance.com.
Parent company Universal Entertainment Corp. recently launched an investigation into Okada’s use of company money. Universal established a committee to examine the outflow of 1 billion yen (US $17.3 million) from Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. to an unnamed third party, money that moved without going through proper fiduciary channels. The third party was later identified as Okada Holdings Ltd., directed at the time by Okada himself.
In a press release last month, Universal said HKD130 million of the loan sum in question was found to be for the purpose of “personal benefit for Chairman Okada.” Pending the outcome of the investigation, “all rights and authorities” of the Japanese billionaire were suspended by the company.
In a subsequent case, Okada was suspected of writing himself a US$16 million check from a Tiger Resort bank account in May 2015. That withdrawal too was apparently done “without necessary internal procedures of the company,” Universal Entertainment stated. The company said it was “determined to investigate these new suspicions in order to clarify the whole picture and to formulate measures to prevent reoccurrence.”
On June 16, Tiger Resort announced it had removed Okada as chairman, replacing him with Justice Manuel Lazaro. The company also elected Kenji Sugiyama as president.
Despite the turbulence, Domingo sounded confident the new Entertainment City resort, which opened December 30, would not be affected. “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,” she said. “Okada only owns 1 percent of Tiger Leisure in the Philippines and another director owns another 1 percent. The rest is owned by other investors.”
The Nevada Gaming Control Board is also investigating Okada, reported GGRAsia.
Diane Presson, supervisor at the Nevada Gaming Control Board said the regulator is “investigating the allegations based on Mr. Okada and affiliated companies, Aruze USA Inc., Aruze Gaming America Inc. and Universal Entertainment holding various gaming licenses in Nevada.”
