The Manila City Prosecutors Office has dismissed a perjury case filed by Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) against Kazuo Okada for lack of sufficient evidence and merit, Okada’s representatives have revealed.
In an email forwarded to media late Thursday, the Okada team refers to a resolution dated 5 March 2019 in which four counts of perjury were dismissed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Francisco Salomon.
TRLEI, the operating entity of Philippines integrated resort Okada Manila, had stated in a complaint filed last October that Okada “deliberately and knowingly alleged under oath that he officially regained and/or never lost control of Okada Holdings, Universal Entertainment Corp, Tiger Resort Asia Limited (TRAL) or TRLEI” after being removed from their respective boards in 2017 amid allegations of fraud.
In particular, TRLEI referred to a letter Okada wrote on 3 October 2017 informing them that he had regained majority ownership and control of Okada Holdings and would subsequently take back control of its subsidiaries. He also wrote to Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR and the US Securities and Exchange Commission informing them that he had regained ownership and control of Okada Holdings.
TRLEI then pointed to a later Retainer Agreement Okada signed with his US legal team in relation to a lawsuit filed against him by Wynn Resorts as having contradicted his claims that he had regained ownership and control of Okada Holdings.
However, according to the email sent by Okada’s representatives this week and received by Inside Asian Gaming, Prosecutor Salomon dismissed TRLEI’s charges on the basis that Okada did not willfully and deliberately assert a falsehood.
“Settled is the rule that mere inaccurate statement under oath without malice does not amount to perjury,” Salomon said.
“It is his belief that he never lost ownership and control of his shares in OHL, UEC, TRAL and TRLEI because he owns and retains almost 100% of his shares in OHL.”
As per a filing by Universal Entertainment Corp earlier this week, Okada still holds a 46.38% stake in Okada Holdings, which in turn owns 68.91% of Universal.
