Universal unit files lawsuit in HK against Kazuo Okada

Dec 29, 2017 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Japanese gaming conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp says a wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Tiger Resort Asia Ltd, has filed a lawsuit alleging damage by former director Kazuo Okada (pictured). The suit was lodged on December 27 in the High Court of Hong Kong, the parent firm said in a Thursday press release.

The press release said Tiger Resort Asia is seeking compensation of HKD136.05 million (US$17.4-million) from Mr Okada.

Mr Okada is the founder and former chairman of Universal Entertainment. The Japanese conglomerate said earlier this month it had filed a lawsuit on November 27 against Mr Okada in the Tokyo District Court in Japan.

Universal Entertainment had announced in early June that it had established an investigative panel to probe Mr Okada’s use of company money, saying it had found three cases in which the Japanese businessman was suspected of misappropriating company funds.

The parent company had previously said that Tiger Resort Asia had suffered “the majority of the damage … as a result of the fraudulent acts” allegedly committed by Mr Okada. The Japanese businessman has denied any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit filed in Hong Kong by Tiger Resort Asia named four defendants: Mr Okada; Okada Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company said to be controlled by Mr Okada and some relatives; a company called Goldluck Tech Ltd; and a businessman identified as Li Jian, described as a representative of Goldluck Tech.

According to Universal Entertainment’s release, Mr Okada is suspected of “a serious violation of governance” in relation to approving in 2015 an HKD135-million loan provided by Tiger Resort Asia to Goldluck Tech “without requesting any collateral and without imposing any interest”.

The parent company claims that the funds were then transferred to Okada Holdings, for the personal use of Mr Okada. “About HKD120.05 million of the loan has not been recovered yet,” said the Japanese conglomerate.

In a second claim also included in the lawsuit, Mr Okada is suspected of withdrawing HKD16 million from a Tiger Resort Asia bank account in May 2015 using a company-issued cheque without following proper procedure.

Universal Entertainment had said that these transactions “were conducted by Mr Okada at his own discretion” and “in order to seek his personal gain”, with Tiger Resort Asia now trying to recover the money via the courts in Hong Kong.

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