Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada removed from Okada Manila after SC ruling

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) lifted the status quo ante order (SQAO) which temporarily reinstated Kazuo Okada as the chief executive officer (CEO) of casino resort Okada Manila.

The order effectively removed Okada as the shareholder, director, chairman, and CEO of the casino resort in Parañaque City after the High Court dismissed Okada’s complaint against one of the hotel’s parent companies, Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Incorporated (TRLEI), which the court said was filed beyond the prescribed period. 

“The Court, after careful consideration of the records, found no merit in Kazuo’s petition. It found that the allegations and the reliefs sought in Kazuo’s complaint ‘clearly show that it is an action for election contest’ and was, thus, subject to the prescriptive period under the Interim Rules,” the SC said in a resolution dated November 13.

Universal Entertainment Corp. (UEC), one of Okada Manila’s parent companies, also announced this in a  November 27 notice.

As of writing, Philstar.com has reached out to Okada’s lawyer for a comment but has yet to respond.

To enable the SC to determine the legitimacy of Okada's removal from his role in 2017 over alleged financial misconduct and fraud claims, the court issued the SQAO in April 2022, instructing his temporary reinstatement as an official within TRLEI. 

The SC also said that Okada was properly removed as the TRLEI official, saying that he is just a nominal shareholder. 

“Moreover, the Court ruled that Kazuo was merely a nominal shareholder in TRLEI and that he had no control over OHL and its subsidiaries considering that the one (1) share registered in his name in TRLEI’s General Information Sheet as of May 2017 was merely a nominal share under a deed of assignment issued, and later revoked, by Tiger Resort Asia Limited, TRLEI’s parent company and an OHL subsidiary,” the court said. 

Also citing judgments from Japanese and Hong Kong courts, the SC said that Okada is also not the controlling shareholder of Okada Holdings Limited.

On May 31, 2022, leveraging the April 2022 SQAO, Okada's group seized Okada Manila physically, supported by private security personnel and local law enforcement.

The UEC, in the meantime, announced its intention to resume talks that had been put on hold with financial entities in the Philippines as it also plans to move forward with refinancing its privately issued notes outside of Japan.