Okada camp denies overpayment claims
The group of Japanese casino mogul Kazuo Okada has denied many of the allegations of its rival board, saying these were meant to “discredit” the current management.
“Okada Manila believes that the sole purpose of these allegations is to disrupt Okada Manila’s operations,” the Japanese camp said in a statement.
Estrella Elamparo, legal counsel of the board of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), earlier said the group of Kazuo authorized billions of pesos in payment to Transasia Construction Development Corp. (TCDC) to settle outstanding payables.
Elamparo said based on company records, it is TCDC that owes TRLEI some P9 billion in overpayments, contra charges and financial losses.
“Okada Manila maintains that there is no proof that such a P2 billion payment was made to TCDC as it was never really paid. On the P9 billion in overpayments that Atty. Elamparo claims was owed by TCDC to Okada Manila, if there was really an overpayment, Atty. Elamparo should attribute the fault or negligence to the previous board which she now represents,” the Kazuo Group said.
It said Elamparo should have asked one of her clients, hajime Tokuda, to verify the accusation as he was the property’s board of director in charge of construction from 2017 and until just recently when he was among those who were unseated by Okada Manila’s legitimate board, the Japanese camp said.
“Okada Manila reiterates that our current and legitimate board has nothing to do with this alleged overpayments and will in fact be conducting a series of internal audit investigations on this matter,” the Kazuo Group said.
It said the current board “does not condone any falsehood or misleading information and will take appropriate action in the proper forum to protect not only Okada Manila but also innocent third parties who have been dragged into the malicious imputations made by the counsel of the unseated board”.
In late May, a group identified with Kazuo Okada took over the casino’s premises with the help of private guards and Parañaque policemen, sparking a protest from TRLEI, which already denounced the move saying it was an “illegal and violent” takeover.
Okada is the founder and former chairman and president of Universal Entertainment Inc., the company that owns TRLEI, which in turn operates Okada Manila.