DOJ urged: Reverse dismissal of $10 million estafa raps vs Okada

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been asked to indict Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada in the $10-million estafa charges filed by his former firm, Tiger Resorts Leisure & Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI).

In two motions filed last week, the TRLEI urged the DOJ to reverse and set aside the dismissal of the cases against Okada by the Parañaque City prosecutor’s office.

The company asked the DOJ to instead conduct another preliminary investigation on the case.

The TRLEI argued that the city prosecutor’s office committed grave error when it did not find probable cause to indict Okada and the other respondents for estafa.

“The complainant has shown that all elements of estafa under the Revised Penal Code were present and the respondents conspired with each other to commit estafa,” the motions read.

The TRLEI alleged that the dismissal of the complaints and the supposed leakage of the resolutions, which dismissed the charges against the respondents, violated its constitutional right to due process.

“The premature release of the assailed resolutions, coupled with the wrongful dispositions of these cases, are indicative of the prosecutor’s feared undue interest in the instant cases, and which not only violate due process but also administrative offenses,” the company said in its motions.

The TRLEI argued that the leakage did “not only violate pertinent laws on public officers but also seriously damaged the credibility, independence and integrity of the assailed resolutions as well as that of Parañaque City Prosecutor Amerhassan Paudac.”

“With due respect, the assailed resolution itself is the smoking gun that something irregular happened at the city prosecutor’s office,” it said.

The TRLEI explained that  setting aside the resolutions is not unprecedented, citing the drug cases against Peter Lim and Kerwin Espinosa.

“In criminal cases, judgment may be set aside or vacated when there is evident bias and gross partiality in favor of the accused on the part of the prosecutor or the judge,” it said.

TRLEI, owner of the Okada Manila hotel-resort complex, accused Paudac of leaking the resolution, which dismissed the complaint for two separate estafa complaints, to Okada’s aide Chloe Kim who posted it on her Facebook and Instagram accounts on May 18.