Kazuo Okada and His Associates Plead Not Guilty in Grave Coercion Case
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Kazuo Okada, the embattled founder of Okada Manila, has entered a plea of not guilty in the grave coercion charge filed against him by officials of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc.
The arraignment for the case was held on Friday (October 28) at the METC Parañaque Branch 91. His co-accused Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, Dindo Espeleta, and Atty. Florentino M. Herrera III all entered the same plea.
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In early October, the Department of Justice recommended the filing of grave coercion charges against Kazuo Okada and his associates. The charge was filed by officers of Universal Entertainment Corp and Tiger Resort Asia Limited, the Hong Kong-based companies that own a majority of Okada Manila, as well as its subsidiary TRLEI, which had been running the property since Kazuo Okada’s ouster from the company’s board in 2017. The indictment was related to the Kazuo Okada group’s forcible takeover of the property last May.
“Kazuo Okada and his group reiterate that they will face the allegation in a just and very honest way and fight until full justice is obtained,” said Atty. Rico Quicho, Kazuo Okada’s official spokesperson, in a statement sent to Esquire Philippines. “The group remains confident that these grave coercion cases will be dismissed for utter failure of the prosecution to prove its charges with the quantum of evidence required in criminal cases, which is proof beyond reasonable doubt.”
Six other criminal complaints filed by the ousted Board of TRLEI/Divina Law Office against Kazuo Okada and his group have been dismissed for insufficiency of evidence and lack of merit. These include a falsification case filed with the city prosecutor of Parañaque, a falsification case filed with the city prosecutor of Makati, kidnapping / serious illegal detention case filed with the DOJ, direct assault case filed with the DOJ, unjust vexation case filed with the DOJ, and slight physical injuries case filed with the DOJ.
In September, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) ordered the Kazuo Group to vacate the premises of Okada Manila, which effectively handed control of the property back to the officials of the parent company, TRLEI and TRAL.
