The controlling shareholder of Okada Manila, Tomohiro Okada, told his father, pachinko billionaire Kazuo, to vacate the casino hotel together with his Japanese and Filipino cohorts.
“I condemn and disown the acts of my father Kazuo and his Filipino and Japanese cohorts in Okada Manila. Their perversion of the law must be put to an end,” Tomohiro said in a statement in reaction to Kazuo’s takeover of the integrated resort on May 31.
Tomohiro controls 53.28 percent of Okada Holdings Ltd. (OHL), the parent company of Okada Manila, while his father owns the remaining shares.
He wrested control of OHL and Okada Manila from his father in 2017 when he signed a trust agreement with his sister, Hiromi, who granted him control over her OHL shares for 30 years. Tomohori owns 43.48 percent while Hiromi holds 9.8 percent.
The Japanese Supreme court ruled with finality on Tomohiro’s control of OHL after his sister sought to rescind the trust agreement. .
“My father’s minority voting stakes in OHL does not give him the right to control Okada Manila — much less appoint anyone as part of its board,” Tomohiro said.
Tomohiro said he was working with his legal team to “seek redress from the High Court of the Philippines to put to rest the Kazuo group’s futile attempt at what is truly a shameful corporate heist.”
Atty. Estrella Elampara, legal counsel of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), branded as “utterly despicable” Kazuo’s claim that his minority shares in OHL empowered him to decide on matters involving TRAL and the casino hotel.
“The grandfather rule cited by Kazuo’s counsel does not apply in this case as the issue is not whether the Filipino ownership requirement under our laws is being complied with. The issue is whether Kazuo owns a majority of outstanding shares of stock to exercise management control over a corporation,” Elamparo said.
“The ownership structure is clear, Kazuo only has a minority stake in the parent company and does not own a single share in Okada Manila,” he added.
Elamparo also claimed that Kazuo and his cohorts Tonyboy Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta have abused the status quo ante order issued by the Supreme Court last May by illegally sitting as members of the sham board of directors of Okada Manila.
The SQAO only ordered the parties to resume operations based on the status quo in 2017, when Kazuo was ousted from Okada Manila’s board.
