Kazuo Okada looks like he’s having another rough, not good, very bad month. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports the Japanese gambling tycoon has received rulings against him in both Japanese and Filipino courts recently.
Okada had requested that warrants for his arrest over estafa charges, specifically for misappropriating funds from Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment (TRLEI), should be set aside. Paranaque Regional Trial Court Branch 257 denied that request.
The alleged misappropriation from the ownership group of Okada Manila is said to have happened while Okada was still CEO of the company. He and his lawyers deny the charges and wanted to squash any possibility that he could be arrested for the accusations.
On July 4, the Paranaque court essentially ruled that they’re done with Okada’s attempts to stretch this out, writing that he’s already been “given due process.”
Meanwhile in Tokyo, Okada had filed an appeal to nullify the trust agreement between his daughter Hiromi and his son Tomohiro. That agreement handed over Hiromi’s voting rights to Tomohiro, a move which effectively gave Kazuo Okada’s son control of the company, and the ability to kick his father out of it. The senior Okada has been trying to nullify the agreement for some time, as his daughter now says she was tricked into it.
The Tokyo High Court doesn’t buy that argument though. “For the reasons above, the original judgment is reasonable and this appeal is groundless. Accordingly, this court renders its judgment… to dismiss this appeal,” they wrote.
That’s just about the worst one-two punch Okada could have received. Now not only does Japan not recognize him as the owner of Universal Entertainment, the owner of TRLEI, but if he were to go to the Philippines to try and fight for control of TRLEI, he’s likely to be arrested.
Don’t count Okada out just yet though. No matter how bleak the news gets, he keeps on fighting. The last time he seemed this down and out, he started making YouTube videos to plead his case, and got perjury charges against him dropped in the same month. Are those two things related? Not at all, but you can’t blame a man for trying.
