Jun Fujimoto, the Representative Director, President, CEO and CIO of Okada Manila parent firm Universal Entertainment Corp, has stepped down from most of those positions after the Tokyo High Court ruled he had breached his fiducial duty and was liable for almost US$43.5 million in compensation to the company.
According to details filed by Universal on Friday, the High Court ruling overturned a June 2022 decision by the Tokyo District Court which found Fujimoto innocent of allegations first filed in 2019. The case, brought by an unnamed shareholder of the company, alleged that Fujimoto caused the company to transfer US$43,497,204 to an external source without reasonable necessity and without following internal decision-making procedures, thereby breaching his fiduciary duty or duty of loyalty as a director of the company.
Universal did not name the shareholder nor the destination of the funds in its announcements on Friday but said it would carefully examine the court’s decision before determining its next course of action. The company had, it added, filed a claim for damages against the shareholder for defamation of the company’s reputation, but this claim was also denied by the High Court.
Fujimoto has in recent years been embroiled in various legal battles with Universal’s founder Kazuo Okada, who he displaced as head of the company in 2017 after an internal investigation found Mr Okada had misappropriated company funds. In 2022, a group representing Mr Okada stormed Okada Manila and took control for a period of three months before Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR ordered their removal.
Mr Okada holds 46.38% of the voting rights of the group’s ultimate parent firm Okada Holdings Ltd, which in turn owns 67.90% of Universal. Mr Okada’s son, Tomohiro, holds a controlling 53.27% stake in Okada Holdings Ltd.
Both Fujimoto and Mr Okada were the targets in a similar lawsuit from shareholder Tsuyoshi Hosoba in 2015, which alleged they and other Universal directors at the time had breached their fiduciary duties on various matters, including US$40 million in payments from affiliates of Universal to a Philippine consultant working on the Okada Manila integrated resort project. That lawsuit ultimately proved successful.
Fujimoto’s decision to step down on Friday has seen Hajime Tokuda named Universal’s new Representative Director and President, while Mr Okada’s estranged wife Takako Okada has also been named a Representative Director.
Fujimoto is still listed as a Director of the company.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article claimed that Fujimoto was liable to pay US$4.35 million to the company. This has since been updated to US$43.5 million after Universal issued a correction notice to its original filing.
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