By Neil Jerome Morales

MANILA (Reuters) -The ousted board of the Philippines’ greatest on line casino stated on Monday it’s suing Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada and his companions, accusing them of coercion and different misconduct in what it stated was a “violent and unlawful” seizure of the playing resort final week.

In a dramatic flip of occasions in a long-running dispute over management of Tiger Resort, Leisure & Leisure which is owned by Japan’s Common Leisure Corp, Okada’s camp took bodily management of the $3.3 billion on line casino generally known as Okada Manila on Could 31 with the assistance of personal safety guards and native police.

The transfer got here after the Philippines’ Supreme Courtroom in April issued a ‘established order ante order’, reinstating Okada, who had been ousted in 2017, as CEO of the on line casino. That adopted a call by the nation’s Courtroom of Appeals in January to dismiss an embezzlement cost in opposition to Okada and an affiliate.

The deposed board of Tiger Resorts appealed the Supreme Courtroom’s choice in April and its authorized counsel stated on Monday that there was nothing within the courtroom’s choice that authorised Okada’s camp to grab bodily management or to create a brand new board. Additionally it is in search of clarification from the Supreme Courtroom about its order.

Okada’s group used “brute power and intimidation” in taking on the property on Could 31, Michiaki Satate, co-vice chairman of the ousted Tiger Resort board, advised a information convention.

“At this second, it’s an illegitimate board and set of officers who’re working the enterprise,” Satate stated, including that the on line casino operator’s mum or dad firm wouldn’t honour any enterprise dealings carried out by the brand new board.

Common, which has seen its shares slide 10% for the reason that takeover, has additionally known as the seizure of the on line casino an “unlawful occupation.”

The lawsuit names as defendants Okada, who was not bodily current throughout the takeover, as properly his companions Antonio Cojuangco and Dindo Espeleta and the non-public safety guard firm they employed.

They’re accused of forcibly eradicating Common director Hajime Tokuda from the on line casino premises and taking him to an space close to his residence in what the ousted board has known as a kidnapping. They’re additionally accused of harming different firm officers in grievances that vary from “grave coercion” and “unjust vexation”.

Vincent Lim, spokesman for Okada Manila’s present administration, stated on Monday: “No violent incident occurred” throughout the takeover. Lim didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the lawsuit.

Officers from the Philippine gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), have been current on the takeover to observe the occasion. PAGCOR stated, nevertheless, it needed to stress its neutrality within the dispute because the matter remains to be earlier than the courtroom.

Okada is at the moment in Japan. He was additionally ousted from Common’s board in 2017, with administrators accusing him of misappropriating $20 million in funds, which he has denied.

The 44-hectare (108 acres) Okada Manila, situated beside the Manila Bay, options 993 suites and villas, 500 desk video games and three,000 digital gaming machines. It’s the greatest of 4 multi-billion greenback casino-resorts working in nation, which has one among Asia’s most freewheeling gaming industries.