Only a day after the Philippines House Committee on Games and Amusements approved a motion to ban American gambling tycoon Steve Wynn from opening any gaming operations in the Philippines – Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada has said he will “vigorously” pursue his casino project in Manila.
It was the Manila project that led to the business dispute between Wynn Resorts and Okada in the first place, with Wynn Resorts considering it direct competition to its business venture in Macau. And it was only last week that Okada saw his 20% stake in Wynn Resorts forcibly bought out by the company. Steve Wynn unilaterally removed Okada from the board of Wynn Resorts and Wynn Macau and filed a lawsuit in Las Vegas claiming that Okada had bribed Asian gaming officials up to the value of US$110,000. It’s no wonder Okada is hell-bent on perusing his Manila project. Half of the reason is probably to get back at Stevie boy.
As reported by Bloomberg, Okada said: “I intend to vigorously continue my US$2 billion investment [in Entertainment City Manila],” in a statement read to Philippines legislators.
“Rest assured that I will be able to prove that all of the accusations are baseless and are lies that have been blown out of proportion,” the Okada statement continued, as it read aloud by one of his representatives.
A report by Macau Business states that Okada has vowed to take legal action against the allegations. Will this legal battle ever end? It seems not, at least until Okada has got a bit of his own back.
