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Okada sues family to regain position at Okada Holdings


Japanese gaming mogul Kazuo Okada has reportedly filed a lawsuit against his son, daughter and wife in an attempt to regain control of Okada Holdings Ltd, Reuters reports.

Hong Kong-based Okada Holdings Ltd is the majority owner of Tokyo-listed gambling machine maker Universal Entertainment Corp.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, Okada said the lawsuit was the only way to get his son and daughter to the negotiating table after they took control of the board of Okada Holdings in May.

Okada said he hasn't seen his son Tomohiro in two years and does not know his daughter Hiromi's current whereabouts. He hoped a lawsuit would prompt a judge to order them to negotiate a settlement that would restore his position at Okada Holdings.

"Unless I sue there will be no opportunity to talk. The reality is I am in a losing position in terms of voting rights," said Okada.

The gaming mogul said he wasn’t even aware he was dropped as a director of Okada Holdings until May 18. "I was totally blindsided," he said.

Okada said his son turned against him as he believed he was not being paid dividends from Universal in line with his 43.5 percent stake in Okada Holdings.

As for his wife Takako, Okada told Reuters he could not forgive her for agreeing to be reappointed to Universal's board.

Last month, Universal Entertainment Corp. launched an investigation into an alleged misuse of funds by Okada and another director of the company.

Okada on Thursday described the company’s allegations as "nonsense", and said the investigation was an attempt by Universal president Jun Fujimoto to seize control.

"I made Fujimoto president. Now he wants to take over,” said Okada.

Last week, Fujimoto called Okada "unfit" to be the director of a public company and vowed to prove that with "irrefutable physical evidence" in a private letter to a shareholders on June 21, according to a report from Reuters.

Universal declined to make any comment about Okada’s allegations against Fujimoto.

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