Falsification Lawsuit Against Okada Dismissed by Philippine Court

The court battle between the two factions fighting over the control of the Okada Manila Casino Resort continues at full steam. Following a series of lawsuits filed by both sides in this conflict, the court has made a decision on one of them.

TRLEI Motion Against Kazuo Okada Was Rejected

On September 8, 2022, the Office of the City Prosecutor of Parañaque City rejected a motion filed by Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI), the operator of the Okada Manila Casino Resorts, against Japanese billionaire and founder of the resort Kazuo Okada and his group of representatives.

The pressed charges were for the falsification of documents. The TRLEI motion claims that the Okada group intentionally forged the Secretary’s Certificate, which was issued on May 4, 2022, so that it seemed as if Espeleta, in his role as board member, had the authority to represent TRLEI by signing and delivering various business documentation.

It was the director of TRLEI parent company Universal Entertainment Corp., Hajime Tokuda, who submitted the motion. Besides Kazuo Okada, the motion was also against Okada’s group of representatives including Dindo Espeleta, Tetsuya Yokota, Maximo Modesto, Josel C. Flores and Hiroshi Kawamura.

The reason why the court made such a decision is that there is not enough evidence proving that the respondents forged the above-mentioned document. 

The Dispute Over Okada Manila Has Been Going on For Almost Four Months and Still Continues

It all started at the end of May when the founder of the resort, Kazuo Okada, together with a group of representatives backed by the police, state officials, and hired guards, organized a takeover of the Okada Manila Casino Resort.

The takeover was executed on the grounds of a Philippines Supreme Court status quo ante order, which, according to the Okada group, stipulated that the board of directors of the resort’s operator TRLEI has to be reinstated in the same way it was back in 2017.

This effectively brought back Kazuo Okada as TRLEI chairman. Following the takeover, the Okada group ousted the current TRLEI board and Okada and his representatives proclaimed themselves as the new TRLEI executives authorized to represent the company.

The Tiger Resort Asia Limited (TRAL), which is the legal owner of TRLEI, could not leave things like this and started a legal battle against the Okada group by submitting a clarification motion against them.

Recent developments of the case saw Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) issuing an order for the Okada group to surrender the physical control over Okada Manila back to the legitimate TRLEI board, backed by TRAL.