Philippine authorities admit to not knowing the whereabouts of Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada, for whom they have an arrest warrant on embezzlement charges.
According to records obtained by the Manila Times, a Kazuo Okada, born 1942, left the Philippines on January 18 on an unknown plane.
However Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Bureau of Immigration (BI) had also recorded that another Kazuo Okada born in 1942 arrived in the country last December 8 and departed five days later. While the newspaper cited a source privy to the matter as saying two more men with the same name and year of birth were recorded between the dates of the indictment and the issuance of an arrest warrant.
“Frankly… we (DoJ and BI) don’t know where he is,” Guevarra told The Manila Times.
Judge Rolando How of the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court Branch 257 last January 4 ordered Okada arrested for allegedly embezzling $3.1 million in company funds of from Tiger Resorts and Leisure Entertainment, the operator of the Okada Manila resort in Entertainment City. Tiger is a unit of Japan’s Universal Entertainment.
Asia Gaming Brief is a news and intelligence service providing up to date market information for worldwide executives on relevant gaming issues in Asia.
ASIA GAMING BRIEF
PO Box 1139, Macau SAR
Tel: +853 2871 7267
Fax: +853 2871 7264