Japanese tycoon bribed Pagcor execs: US suit
WASHINGTON - Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada was accused Tuesday in a US lawsuit of paying off Philippine regulators and cheating his powerful Las Vegas partner.
Wynn Resorts said Okada, Japan's pachinko king and a director of Wynn, went behind the company's back to develop business for his own Universal Entertainment in the Philippines and broke US laws on foreign bribery, the lawsuit alleges.
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| Kazuo Okada, chairman of Universal Entertainment Corp, is seen during the ground breaking ceremony of its casino-hotel projects in Manila in this January 26, 2012 file photo. / REUTERS |
Wynn said Okada spent more than $110,000 to curry favor with two Philippines officials in apparent violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, jeopardizing Wynn's own reputation in the process.
"Mr. Okada, his associates and companies appear to have engaged in a longstanding practice of making payments and gifts to his two chief gaming regulators at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), who directly oversee and regulate Mr. Okada's provisional licensing agreement to operate in that company," the lawsuit said.
It named former Pagcor chairman Efraim Genuino and current Chairman Cristino Naguiat, and their families, as the recipients of the payoffs, which dated to 2008.
The suit said that Okada made the payments, and sought a gaming license in the Philippines, despite Wynn's telling him not to do so.
"Okada's conduct poses a direct assault upon, and a threat to, Wynn Resorts' reputation for probity, which is central to maintaining its stature in the gaming industry as well as its current and future licensing."
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the Las Vegas district court.
It was the latest step in the acrimonious fight between US casino magnate Steve Wynn and his longtime partner Okada, with Wynn Resorts now trying to force 20 percent shareholder Okada off the company's board.
On Sunday Wynn Resorts said it was redeeming Okada's 24 million shares in the Las Vegas firm, held through his Aruze USA Inc.
Wynn said that the board had voted Sunday to ask Okada to resign.
© 1994-2012 Agence France-Presse
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Justice is having friends in the right places
...so, it is standard protocol, perks, etc. if you belong to the current malacanang resident's yellow mob, or KKK...but if you happen to be an identified enemy - it is corruption, high crime, injustice...
words, rhetoric, excuses...what else is new in the Yellow Admin?!
...you can fool the people sometimes, but pls, do not insult our collective intellect by trying to fool all of us all the time... and yes, i USED TO believe in your hypocritical advocacy...USED TO...
Bribery on the straight path
Bribery is standard practice in the casino industry, according to Malacañang Palace. So, it’s all right to accept a bribe—especially if the bribe is received by a former classmate and very close associate of President Noynoy Aquino, the founder of “daang matuwid.”
Pnoy's officials are corrupt.
Pnoy's officials are corrupt. Nanguiat is is discredited PAGCOR official embroiled in corruption allegations and yet Pnoy chose to appoint him chairman and see what corruption he is now engaged in under Pnoy's administration. Pnoy wants to fight corruption? That's the joke that Pnoy is making a fool of the people whom he has deveived, look how Pnoy is now defending Nanguiat just like what he did with other buddies like Rico Puno receiving millions of pesos monthly from jueteng payolas and Llamas, the dvd rip-off king. Pnoy's administration and close associates are a bunch of hypocrites and very corrupt, enough said.
double standard
akala ko favorite line ng mga pro-Gloria and pro-Corona ang "innocent until proven guilty"? allow others to explain "in due time" (favorite ng Corona defense team). hahaha!
Dapat lahat ng nabigyan ng license nung panahon ni GMA cancel
Dapat lahat ng nabigyan ng license nung panahon ni GMA ay cancel
Because sa dami ng nagapply, iilan lang ang binigyan ng license
you will wonder kung magkano ang payoff
casino yan gambling malaking pera yan forever
kaya ang lagayan dyan
baka 100Million pataas.
Kayang kaya bawiin kapag nagoperate na yung mga casino.
Investigate kung bakit awarded sa selected few.
Ephraim Genuino - Pagcor
And now it proves you towards something you've been denying... Get ready sir, its U.S. now not Philippines...So bad..