Japanese casino tycoon Kasuo Okada, 74, who holds a 46.4% stake in Okada Holdings Ltd., is suing his son, daughter and wife in an effort to regain control of the enterprise,
Reuters reported.
Okada Holdings, based in Hong Kong, is majority owner of Tokyo-listed Universal Entertainment Corp., which makes gambling machines. Reuters said that according to the Hong Kong High Court online database, Okada Holdings is also a defendant in Kasuo Okada’s suit.
Okada said his family pushed him out as a director of Okada Holdings. He told Reuters he hadn’t seen his son, Tomohiro, in two years and did not know the whereabouts of his daughter, Hiromi. Tomohiro and Hiromi own a combined 53% of Okada Holdings.
Okada told Reuters that Universal’s board informed him May 23 that he was being investigated for alleged misuse of company funds. The Reuters report said the company registered his removal as a director in a May 12 public filing and announced on May 31 that he would not be reappointed to the board.
Universal issued a press release accusing Okada and another director of misappropriating about $20 million of the company’s money in three transactions during 2015 and is investigating other potential irregularities, the article said. Okada denied the allegations and called the investigation an attempt by Universal’s president, Jun Fujimoto, to take control, Reuters reported.
Okada told Reuters he filed the lawsuit as a last-ditch effort to get his son and daughter to negotiate with him.
The company announced that Okada’s wife, Takako, 43, would take on responsibility for its art museum and serve as an adviser on overseas business. (Source: Reuters, July 3, 2017.)
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