Posting date: 13 July 2023 at 8:34 h.
Last updated: July 13, 2023 at 01:01h
A Philippines court has issued an arrest warrant for Kazuo OKada. The arrest warrant stems from an alleged forced takeover of the Japanese billionaire’s namesake integrated resort in Manila last year. A Philippines court issued an arrest warrant against the Japanese billionaire who led a takeover of his namesake integrated casino resort last year. (Image:
Financial Times
Okada’s actions came after he claimed he was forcibly ousted from TRLEI by his adult children, who alleged in courts that their father was stealing money from the gaming business. Okada was later arrested on a single “grave coercion” charge.
Arrest Warrant Issued
Okada pleaded not guilty to the charge in December and pledged to clear his name in the Filipino court system. Okada sent
Casino.org
a lengthy email that month claiming many of his closest colleagues, including his children, conspired to oust him from Okada Manila on false allegations of theft and fraudulent activity.Okada told us there would be no reason for him to steal two billion yen, about US$14 million, as the TRLEI board alleged. His net worth is substantial.Until I was ousted, I controlled about 70% of UEC stock
. It is clear that there is no reason for me to commit a criminal act in order to obtain two billion yen,”
Okada told [Universal Entertainment Corporation — the parent entity of TRLEI]Casino.org.Okada’s attorneys have petitioned the Philippines Department of Justice to dismiss the grave coercion charge. But Judge Regina Paz A. Ramos-Chavez ruled this week that Okada’s appeal to the DOJ won’t stall the criminal proceedings.As a result, Ramos-Chavez ordered the arrests of Okada and 12 of his associates who carried out the May 2022 takeover.
“There is probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against all of the accused,” Ramos-Chavez said in his warrant. “The counter-allegations of the accused, being evidentiary in nature, are best threshed out in a full-blown trial.”
TRLEI Allegations
After resuming control of Okada Manila, TRLEI executives determined that a considerable amount of cash was stolen from the property during the unauthorized Okada-led takeover. TRLEI claims in court that at the very least PHP500,000,000 (US$9 Million) has vanished. The penalty for grave coercion is a prison sentence ranging from two to six years.