In 2022, Japanese Pachinko billionaire and former Steve Wynn affiliate, then nemesis, Kazuo Okada staged a boardroom raid on his “former” property in the Philippines, Okada Manila. Now a trial courtroom has ordered his arrest on expenses of pilfering cash from the large on line casino complicated’s coffers through the time of compelled management of the property.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Okada together with a dozen different associates of his together with most notably Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangc and, Dindo Espeleta for the crime of “qualified theft” based on reviews out of Asia.
Regional Trial Court Judge Issued Warrants
Presiding Judge Hon. Regina Paz A. Ramos-Chavez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 274 issued the arrest warrants.
According to reviews in Asian gaming media, “Qualified Theft” falls underneath provisions of Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, and includes theft in instances of “grave abuse of confidence” and it carries harsher penalties than another sort of theft.
Art. 310. Qualified theft. – The crime of certified theft shall be punished by the penalties subsequent increased by two levels than these respectively specified in the subsequent previous article.
An article from Inside Asia Gaming purports to have obtained affirmation and extra particulars from Okada Manila representatives that point out the theft might have been circa Php500 million – just a little over US$9m and that the alleged theft concerned merely siphoning cash from the on line casino cashier cage.
Motions to droop or delay the proceedings that led to the issuance of warrants have been reportedly denied by the choose though the accused might have been interesting the choice with the Secretary of the Department of Justice as such an enchantment doesn’t maintain continuing in abeyance primarily based on the choose’s interpretation of the nation’s National Prosecution Service Rule on Appeal.
Judge Ramos-Chavez decided there was possible trigger to concern warrants for all of these accused in the matter stating: “The counter-allegations of the accused, being evidentiary in nature, are best threshed out in a full-blown trial.”
Early final yr the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued an order of Status Que Ante Order (SQAO) which, in impact instructed then-current board members to quickly restore the Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) operators board to its standing previous to the elimination of Okada from the board in 2017.
While the matter was nonetheless being thought of for litigation and no direct order to relinquish management by a date sure was issued, that was sufficient for Okada’s associates to mount a raid on the places of work and forcibly retake the property on May 31, 2022. About 50 invaders took over the resort together with non-public safety guards and some native law enforcement officials.
DOJ Ruled Okada Had No Right to Take Forcible Control of Casino
The Department of Justice dominated about three months later that the SQAO was not an imminent order to, nor give Okada the correct to retake and management the property by pressure, and by early September 2022, the ousted board took its chairs once more.
Along the way in which, Okada and others have been indicted for “grave coercion” for bodily eradicating the prevailing board and indictments have been issued. However, potential kidnapping expenses have been dismissed. Okada flew to the Philippines and turned himself over to authorities when the indictment was issued. He was launched on bail the identical day. The group pleaded not responsible to the costs.
The TRAL-backed board accused Kazuo Okada’s representatives in July 2022 of pilfering funds from the cashier cage in response to its property being frozen, based on some reviews.
Source: Philippines Court orders arrest of Kazuo Okada, Tonyboy Cojuangco, Dindo Espeleta and associates for qualified theft, Inside Asia Gaming, July 12, 2023