The Tiger Resort Asia Ltd (TRAL) backed board of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) says its lawyers have issued a demand letter to the Kazuo Okada-led board calling for the inspection of all internal documents following reports of unauthorized disbursements of corporate funds, primarily from the casino cage.
The letter from Divina Law comes after the TRAL-backed board recently claimed Kazuo Okada’s representatives were dispersing money directly from the casino cage at Okada Manila in response to its bank accounts being recently frozen.
As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, this intra-corporate dispute began when a group representing Kazuo Okada took physical control of the Manila integrated resort in May, citing a Status Quo Ante Order (SQAO) issued by the Supreme Court of the Philippines ordering restoration of the composition of the board of directors of TRLEI to its 2017 line-up, before the dispute that saw Kazuo Okada expelled from the company.
In a statement issued Thursday, the TRAL-backed board – which holds 99.9% of shares in TRLEI – said it has ordered the inspection and the furnishing of lists of payments or fund transfers amounting to more than Php1 million made to any party, payments made to all contractors since the take over and payments to any company linked to Kazuo Okada or his associates Antonio Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta.
TRAL has also ordered the release of monthly management reports from June to July, a list of all rehired employees plus lists of all new supply and construction contracts, planned payments of over Php1 million for August, new bank accounts opened, changes in IT systems, and the records of deleted CCTV camera footage.
“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 5 August 2022 at the Okada Manila’s corporate office, the statement added.
The TRAL-backed board also claimed the Kazuo Okada group has been “intimidating and easing out loyal employees” who have questioned the group’s attempts “use the casino cage to fund the payment of the board’s salaries.”
Jun Fujimoto, the CEO and Representative Director of TRAL’s parent firm Universal Entertainment Corp, said, “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.”
