The Manila City Prosecutor’s Office in the Philippine capital has dismissed four counts of perjury leveled against Japanese billionaire and gaming magnate Kazuo Okada for what the office called “lack of sufficient evidence and merit.”
According to GGRAsia, the charges were filed in November by Okada’s former company, Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., promoter of the Okada Manila casino resort in Manila’s Entertainment City.
In a 12-page resolution dated March 5 and made public on March 28, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Francisco Salomon wrote, “A conviction of perjury cannot be sustained merely upon the contradictory sworn statements of the accused. The prosecution must prove which of the two statements is false and must show the statement to be false by other evidence than the contradicting statement.”
TRLEI had alleged that Okada made contradictory statements in separate cases in the Philippines and Nevada about his control of Okada Holdings Ltd., a private Hong Kong-registered entity that owns 68 percent of Japan-based conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp. Universal is the parent company of TRLEI.
“We cannot conclude or determine that the allegations of respondent Okada in the intra-corporate complaint are inconsistent or contradictory, if not diametrically opposed, to the allegations in the Nevada complaint,” said the prosecutor.
At the beginning of the year, the Philippine Department of Justice dismissed one count of fraud against Okada, but one fraud case remains outstanding. In January, a Philippines court called for Okada’s arrest on charges that he misappropriated more than US$3 million from TRLEI. Okada has steadfastly denied all charges.
