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Experts Leave Panel As They Review Universal Payments

A panel of outside experts convened by Japan's Universal Entertainment Corp to investigate a $40 million payment related to its casino business in the Philippines said it was dissolving.

The four-member panel said in a brief statement to reporters in Tokyo yesterday that it would dismantle Universal indefinitely because it did not disclose its interim report to the company in March, Reuters reported. It gave no details.

U.S. and Philippine law enforcement agencies are investigating the money because it is a possible bribe to advance the $2 billion casino Universal is building in Manila Bay. Universal has denied the allegations and says it conducted its business legally in the Philippines.

The payments were made to two companies controlled by Rodolfo Soriano, who had worked closely with Efraim Genuino, chairman of Pagcor, the Philippine gaming regulator, until June 2010.

Universal Entertainment is controlled by Kazuo Okada, a former investor in win resort, Inc. He was dismissed as a shareholder in win resort and director of win macao, Inc. in February 2012.

According to a report commissioned by Wynn, Mr Okada is not fit as a partner and poses a threat to the casino company's Nevada license because of the way it promotes Manila casino transactions.

In June 2013, Universal published a summary of the findings of its first report, written by a panel of experts, which concluded there was no evidence to prove allegations of bribery. However, it was critical of the company's governance structure and accused the lack of oversight of its overseas operations of allowing it to make payments by mistake.

At the time, the authors of the report commissioned by Universal were Yoshiyuki Kaneshige, Teruki Uchida and Takujiro Hamada, a former Japanese police official who now leads management consultants. In August, Universal announced that the committee would add a fourth member and further investigate the responsibilities of those involved in the payments, Reuters said.

Since then, the company has not made any disclosure regarding the investigation team's investigation. The guidelines set by the Japanese Bar Association say that it is a principle to disclose the results of such investigations to stakeholders without delay.

Mr. Okada, who made his initial fortune with Pachinko machines in Japan, may have to appear before Philippine representatives who want to personally explain their claims that he set up a fake company to meet casino license requirements. Mr. Pachinko temporarily suspended the licenses granted to Universal.

BY: 바카라사이트

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