Lawyer dismisses reports gaming mogul Okada held in HK

A lawyer of Japanese gaming mogul Kazuo Okada on Wednesday dismissed reports that the former head of integrated gaming resort Okada Manila was recently arrested by Hong Kong authorities over a HK$135 million (P918 million) business fraud case.

Various Chinese media agencies had reported that Okada and an associate, Li Jian, were held by agents of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in the special Chinese administrative region on Aug. 1 for conspiracy to defraud Okada Holdings Ltd., a company owned by Okada’s family.

“That case had been dismissed as of May 2018,” lawyer Rean Balisi said in a statement.

“It is simply impossible and absurd for my client to defraud his own company,” he added.

He said the allegations against Okada were an offshoot of the criminal cases that the Japanese businessman and his daughter, Hiromi Okada, brought against Jun Fujimoto, president of Universal Entertainment Corp.—MARLON RAMOS