The group of businessman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco was ordered to cease and desist by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), furtherance of the Status Quo Ante Order (SQAO) earlier issued by the Supreme Court in relation to the management and operation of the contested Okada Manila. This allows Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. (TRAL) to successfully reinstate its legitimate board members in Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) and fully regain control of the resort and casino. 

Despite the minor and brief scuffle, as Kazuo Okada’s self-appointed board tried to bar government authorities from entering Okada Manila, the transition was generally peaceful. The representatives of PAGCOR were assisted by officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in enforcing the order. 

Government officers served upon the illegally-appointed board of directors of Okada Manila, their representatives, and non-employees a resolution from PAGCOR dated 02 September 2022. 

Signed by Acting Corporate Secretary Jessa Mariz R. Fernandez, the PAGCOR resolution stated that the gaming regulator has decided to withdraw the recognition of the Okada Manila board of directors created on 02 May 2022, as the Supreme Court’s SQAO dated 27 April 2022 only resulted in the return of Kazuo Okada as a stockholder, director, chairman and CEO of TRLEI.  

As such, Dindo A. Espeleta, Antonio O. Cojuangco, Maximo Modesto Joel C. Flores, Tetsuya Yokota, and Hiroshi Kawamura are ordered to “cease and desist from discharging their functions  in connection with Okada Manila’s casino operations.” 

Furthermore, they are barred from further “disbursing funds in the Okada Manila cage and to  peacefully vacate the gaming premises of Okada Manila’s casino and offices.”

“We believe that the order from the PAGCOR affirms our position in the intra-corporate dispute in Okada Manila. It is consistent with both the letter and spirit of the SQAO of the Supreme Court. We are hopeful that both the High Tribunal and the Court of Appeals will agree and this issue can be put to rest very soon,” TRAL Director Kenshi Asano said. 

Despite the illegally-appointed board’s last-minute efforts to sabotage the transition by disabling most of the property’s elevators for several hours, including those for the customers, the management and operations of Okada Manila were turned over to the TRAL-backed board led  by TRLEI President Byron Yip and are fully under their control since Friday. There is also CCTV  video footage of the Kazuo group shredding documents in hotel room 866, which was being used as an executive office, and employee Gilbert Giazon removing boxes of documents from the property. 

To recall, Kazuo Okada and his henchmen Espeleta and Cojuangco stormed Okada Manila in May,  forcibly and violently taking over the premises and installing themselves as the new board of  Okada Manila, citing the SQAO issued by the Supreme Court. 

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla issued a formal agency opinion on  the matter, assuring PAGCOR of its authority to exercise its regulatory powers on corporate  disputes concerning its stakeholders such as casino operators. 

“We believe that the status quo ante order of the Supreme Court mandated only the return of  Mr. Okada as a stockholder, director, chairman, and CEO of TRLEI. It did not empower him to reconvene or form a new board of directors. The strict interpretation of the SQAO is even expressly directed by the Supreme Court in its resolution of the motion for reconsideration that was filed to clarify the High Court’s intent in issuing the SQAO,” Remulla said in the document dated September 01, 2022. 

Kazuo Okada, who has a subsisting warrant of arrest for embezzlement in the Philippines, will be recognized in the Board for now in view of the SQAO which temporarily restored him to his position prior to his ouster. His fate will be decided by the Supreme Court once the Court of Appeals submits its findings to the said Tribunal pursuant to an earlier Resolution it issued. 

“While we have successfully retaken control over the management and premises of Okada Manila, we will remain focused on resolving this matter with finality. A favorable outcome will help the Philippines regain the trust of international investors”, Asano added.  

In the statement sent to the media, TRAL alleged that Kazuo and his cohorts Antonio Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta have eased out key officers of Okada Manila after they questioned the attempts to use the casino cage to fund the payment of the board’s salaries. 

This development came as banks have decided to freeze the corporate accounts of Okada Manila, pending the resolution of the intra-corporate dispute. 

Since the beginning of the issue, TRAL, which owns 99.9 percent of the shares in Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Corp. (TRLEI), has been firm that it will not financially support the illegitimate board that forcefully took over Okada Manila in May. 

“As the majority shareholder in TRLEI, the operator of Okada Manila, we at TRAL are deeply concerned that the illegal acts of Kazuo Okada and his illegitimate officers will put in danger not only the integrated casino resort itself, but also the 5,000-strong employees of Okada Manila,” Kenshi Asano, Director of TRAL, said. 

With this, TRAL demanded the Kazuo group’s board of Okada Manila to allow its representatives and officers to inspect the corporate documents of the integrated casino resort, following reports of unauthorized disbursements of corporate funds, primarily from the casino cage. 

TRAL sent the demand letter to the seven-man illegitimate board of Okada Manila through its legal counsel Divina Law on August 3. 

The Hong Kong-based company was informed that Okada Manila’s Kazuo group’s board has been disbursing payments to Transasia Construction Development Corp. (TCDC), a contractor of Okada Manila with links to Espeleta. 

The payments were made despite the fact that TRLEI has an existing claim for overpayment against TCDC in the staggering amount of P9.2 Billion.

Given this, TRAL ordered the inspection and the furnishing of lists of payments and/or fund transfers amounting to more than P1 million made to any party; payments made to all contractors since their illegal and violent take over in May 2022, as well as the payments to any company linked to Kazuo, Cojuangco, and Espeleta. 

TRAL also ordered the release of monthly management reports from June to July as well as the list of all rehired employees. 

Furthermore, the holding company also demanded the list of all new supply and construction contracts, planned payments of over P1 million for August, new bank accounts opened, changes in IT systems, and the records of deleted CCTV camera footage. 

It also insisted on getting a copy of the minutes of the Kazuo’s board’s meetings and resolutions as well as the daily record of TRLEI cash on hand at Okada Manila. 

“You are hereby reminded that the inspection of corporate documents is a matter of right on the part of a shareholder and are further sternly warned that denial of such right constitutes a crime under the Revised Corporation Code,” the demand letter read. 

Divina Law will conduct the inspection on Friday, August 5, 2022, at Okada Manila’s corporate office. 

“We denounce the illegal acts of Kazuo Okada and his henchmen, especially against the employees who continue to hold the line for truth and justice. We appeal to our beloved employees to not allow themselves to be coerced or intimidated by the Kazuo group’s board into performing illegal acts, as it will be a disservice to themselves, their livelihood, and their colleagues,” Asano added. 

Kazuo Okada and his illegitimate board have been playing kings at Okada Manila after they forcefully took over the operations of the integrated casino resort on 31 May 2022 under the guise of implementing a status quo ante order (SQAO) from the Philippine Supreme Court. 

The legitimate board of TRLEI and parent companies TRAL, Japan-based Universal Entertainment Corp., and Hong Kong-based Okada Holdings Inc., have so far sought a swift resolution of the issue from the Supreme Court. 

“We have invested heavily to build and operate Okada Manila, the largest integrated casino resort in Asia, and we are certainly not going to allow it to go to waste. We are confident that the Philippine Supreme Court will agree with the correctness of our case and resolve this intra-corporate dispute once and for all,” stated Jun Fujimoto, CEO & Representative Director of UEC. 

Jun Fujimoto, the president of UEC, said the Japan-listed company is hoping for a favorable decision on the motion for reconsideration filed by its subsidiary Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) on the Status Quo Ante Order (SQAO) issued by the Philippine Supreme Court in April. 

“We at UEC formally and respectfully appeal to the Philippine Supreme Court and government agencies for their support and swift action. We are confident that the pieces of evidence that we have provided to the honorable Court will speak volumes in the correctness of our position,” Fujimoto said. 

UEC wholly owns Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. (TRAL), a Hong Kong-based company. In turn, TRAL owns 99.99 percent of TRLEI, the operator of Okada Manila. TRAL is represented by two directors of UEC in TRLEI, namely, Mr. Kenshi Asano and Mrs. Takako Okada, and has been recognized as such by the Hong Kong Companies Registry since 2017 to date. This information is publicly available on the website of the Hong Kong authorities, the Cyber Search Centre of the Integrated Companies Registry Information System (ICRIS). 

To recall, Kazuo Okada and his cohorts Tonyboy Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta, among others, forcibly took over Okada Manila on 31 May 2022 on the pretext of an SQAO issued by the Supreme Court. 

However, the SQAO is a temporary measure that required both parties to return to the status quo prior to the removal of Kazuo Okada from TRLEI in 2017.

“Kazuo Okada and his group have misrepresented themselves and withheld vital information from the honorable court about the companies’ ownership/structure. They have also no legal basis for taking control of the company. Moreover, Kazuo Okada and his cohorts are not recognized by both UEC and TRAL, the legitimate owners of TRLEI,” Fujimoto said. 

Fujimoto also emphasized that Okada Manila is not owned by a single individual. It is, in fact, a multibillion-dollar investment of several individuals that believed in the potential of the Philippines as an investment destination. 

“The actions of the Kazuo group are unscrupulous and blatantly disregard the law and have put the company and its employees in danger. It harms the Philippines’ international reputation as a center for business and investment,” Fujimoto said. 

The illegal takeover of Okada Manila and the acts of Kazuo Group’s illegitimate officers have also resulted in the delay of UEC’s disclosure of the quarterly results of TRLEI in the Tokyo Stock Exchange. 

With the disruptions made by the usurper Kazuo Okada to the operations of Okada Manila as well as TRAL and UEC, Fujimoto said the company is bent on bringing him to court in Hong Kong, where TRAL is registered. 

“We believe that the acts made by Kazuo Okada and his collaborators fall into serious violation of Hong Kong law, including falsification of official documents, fraud, and embezzlement and will file criminal charges against them with the Hong Kong authorities to pursue responsibilities for these acts,” Fujimoto said. 

He also reiterated that UEC and TRAL only recognize the TRLEI board led by Byron Yip and that they offer their full support to this leadership team, which is the sole and legitimate one. 

“As the parent company’s president whose main wish is to safeguard all employees and help the Philippines as a member of the international business community, it is my hope that the honorable Philippine Supreme Court and government agencies will act quickly to resolve the issues surrounding Okada Manila’s ownership,” Fujimoto said. 

Once the Philippine Supreme Court resolves the motion in favor of TRLEI, UEC, and TRAL, the first order of business is to clean the mess made by Kazuo Okada and his cohorts. This likewise includes the eventual listing of Okada Manila in the US. 

“Welcoming back the UEC and TRAL-recognized board will set TRLEI and Okada Manila back on track and the company can focus on recovery and growth,” Fujimoto said. 

We at Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. (TRAL), the owner of 99.99 percent of shares in Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), denounce in the strongest possible terms the recent statements made by the group of Kazuo Okada as false and preposterous. 

Kazuo Okada, cohorts are not recognized 

We would like to reiterate to the public that any claim from the Kazuo Group is not reflective of our position as the owners of integrated casino resort Okada Manila. 

TRAL does not recognize Kazuo and his cohorts Tonyboy Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta, among many others, as officers of Okada Manila’s operator TRLEI. 

No one from the Kazuo Group holds a single share in TRLEI. As such, they have no legal right to sit on the board, much less to manage the integrated casino resort and claim that they have created an atmosphere of growth since their violent takeover on 31 May 2022. 

The Kazuo Group has been perverting a Status Quo Ante Order issued by the Philippine Supreme Court and misleading the public as to what the Order actually directs. Most importantly, however, these interlopers — Cojuangco and Espeleta — may have forgotten that we are not a party in the Supreme Court case. 

Credit grabbing 

The claim that they drove up Okada Manila’s revenues — from gaming, hotel bookings, food and beverage sales, and daily visits — is absurd and without factual basis. 

Even before the easing of pandemic restrictions, the legitimate board of TRLEI led by Byron Yip has already crafted a recovery and sustainability program that will allow Okada

Manila to grow and flourish after suffering from the adverse effects of the community quarantines. 

The initiative includes the True Clean, True Safe, True Heart (3T) Campaign, a safety program that TRLEI set in motion in 2020. The campaign reinforced Okada Manila’s commitment to providing guests with clean, safe, and excellent service even during the pandemic, resulting in a substantial increase in occupancy rates after the 2020 hard lockdown. 

For the 3T Campaign, TRLEI earned the International Association of Business Communicators Quill Award in 2021 and the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association award in 2022. This campaign was also integral in earning the Forbes Travel Guide and Sharecare VERIFIED stamp, Department of Tourism (DOT) safety seal, and the WTTC Safe Travels Stamp. 

Aside from this, plan also includes the resumption of the operations of Okada Manila’s retail tenants as well as the addition of new merchants to expand its offerings to guests. 

The legitimate board of TRLEI also rolled out the casino marketing strategy that has led to Okada Manila’s strong gross gaming revenue growth despite the limitations brought by the pandemic. 

Now that we are at a more comfortable space into the pandemic, almost all of the businesses in the leisure, entertainment, gaming, and tourism expect an upswing in booking requests, revenues, and visits owing to the revenge travel phenomenon. 

To claim that the Kazuo Group’s one-month seizure of Okada Manila magically resulted in significant growth in the company’s revenues is just plain and blatant falsehood. 

The growth that Okada Manila is experiencing today is driven largely by the strong recovery plan that the legitimate TRLEI board developed and is influenced by the pent up demand for travel and leisure activities. 

No turnover, but a violent takeover 

We would also like to highlight that there was no formal turnover of the management of Okada Manila to the Kazuo Group. But there was in fact, a violent takeover. 

Video evidence and testimonies show the brute force used on the legitimate board to illegally take over Okada Manila. Cases of kidnapping, serious illegal detention, physical injuries, grave coercion, and unjust vexation have been filed before the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) against Kazuo Okada, Cojuangco, Espeleta, Tetsuya Yokota, and Hiroshi Kawamura.

TRAL abhors the violent acts of the Kazuo Group and strongly condemns their attempt to divert the issue. 

Baseless, malicious lies 

Despite being the namesake of the integrated casino resort, Kazuo Okada, who has 29 pending criminal and civil cases in six countries around the world, was ousted from TRLEI, TRAL, and UEC in 2017 after an internal investigation revealed that he stole $20 million for personal gain. 

His ouster was not unexpected and was in fact seconded by the Japanese Supreme Court, which ordered him to pay back the amount. To date, Kazuo Okada has yet to return the money he stole from the company. 

Any future plans that he and his cohorts project are baseless and are without merit, as TRAL does not recognize — much less support — him or his henchmen in conducting the business of Okada Manila. 

We have faith that the Philippine Supreme Court will act with dispatch to put to rest this intra-corporate dispute that has affected the 5,000-strong employees of Okada Manila, its suppliers, and its investors. 

With still unsettled Intra-corporate disputes between the Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) and Kazuo Okada’s group, Okada Manila’s bank accounts have been frozen and inevitably casts doubt on its operational stability after its cage money runs dry. 

In the statement sent to THEPHILBIZNEWS by the Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), its legal counsel Atty. Estrella Elamparo revealed that BDO Unibank (BDO), Asia United Bank (AUB) and Union Bank of the Philippines decided to freeze the accounts of Okada Manila due to the ongoing intra-corporate dispute in the operator of Okada Manila. 

With the status quo ante order (SQAO), banks have become more prudent and cautious in dealing with the financial requirements of Okada Manila. 

Duly informed of the SQAO, BDO required the legitimate TRLEI board led by Hajime Tokuda and Byron Yip, and the invalidly constituted board of Kazuo Okada led by Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta to sign an agreement to disburse the salaries of the employees of Okada Manila. 

“Despite being on the right side of the law, the legitimate board of TRLEI decided to draft and sign the agreement, understanding that the welfare of the employees is at stake. However, the camp of Kazuo Okada was not keen on signing the agreement, imposing unreasonable conditions,” said Elamparo, a senior partner at TRLEI’s legal counsel Divina Law. 

The Kazuo Group insisted that they will never sign any agreement which bears the signature of Tokuda. 

The Kazuo Group’s decision and hard stance against signing the agreement forced the banks to file interpleader cases, asking the court to require both parties to interplead between themselves.

Elamparo said Okada Manila may choose to use the “cage money” or the revenues generated from the operations of the casino and hotel to fund the operations and the salaries of Okada Manila’s employees. 

However, those funds can only go so far and are expected to run dry soon. 

“The winds of change that will blow at Okada Manila reeks of disaster and misfortune. After their violent and illegal takeover, Okada Manila has no access to its bank accounts. We expect Okada Manila’s funds to dwindle in the coming weeks, putting not only guests at the losing end, but at the same time putting at risk its over 5,000 employees, many of whom rely on their salaries to meet their daily needs,” Elamparo said. 

Elamparo added that Kazuo and his group should be transparent to the establishment’s employees, as no bank or any financial facility will deal with Okada Manila until the legal cases have been resolved by the courts. 

Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. (TRAL) has forwarded to relevant agencies and partners a certification that puts on record that it does not recognize Kazuo Okada or any of his appointed board members as new management. 

With this, TRAL will not be in a position to infuse new capital to fund the daily operations and salaries of workers while legal proceedings are ongoing. 

“No bank will engage with an entity under an ownership dispute,” Elamparo said. “Once Okada Manila’s funds start to run dry, they will have problems dealing with the operations of the integrated casino resort.” 

Without capital to fund its daily operations, there is no clarity on how Okada Manila will continue to operate, much more implement Kazuo Okada’s recent pronouncements of growth and sustainability. 

“The legitimate board of TRLEI hopes that these issues will be resolved soon as they plan to move forward with its listing in NASDAQ through the merger with 26 Capital,” Elamparo said. 

For official news and updates on the listing plan in NASDAQ, kindly refer to the website of Universal Entertainment Corporation at https://www.universal-777.com/en/news/