Takafumi Nakano, a former employee of Universal Entertainment Corp. who reportedly received an offer last month from Universal’s legal counsel Yuki Arai to retract bribery claims, has filed another criminal complaint against Universal founder Kazuo Okada.
A Reuters report indicated that Nakano had submitted his complaint to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office in late May, adding to a growing number of lawsuits against Okada involving the $40 million in alleged bribes his company gave to former PAGCOR officials in the Philippines. Other individuals named in the complaint include the aforementioned Arai and lawyers Junichi Okuhisa and Yasuharu Otawa.
These legal issues have developed so many tentacles over the years that separate investigations have been made by the FBI and the Philippine government. The case has also left Okada’s casino license in the Philippines in limbo and under threat of being cancelled if no resolution is reached.
Universal has filed lawsuits against its former employees, including Nakano, for allegedly authorizing these payments without the consent of senior management. The ex-employees have rejected these charges, saying that the payments “were made on the orders of Okada.”
Nakano’s new complaint urges Japanese prosecutors to investigate the casino tycoon under its own bribery laws on foreign officials, even if these said laws are largely unenforced in Japan.
