Wynn Resorts drops claims against Okada

Kazuo Okada

Wynn Resorts has dropped all claims against co-founder Kazuo Okada, a Japanese business tycoon the company had accused of paying bribes to Philippine government officials.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Wynn Resorts voluntarily withdrew its claims of breach of fiduciary responsibility against Okada, founder of Tokyo casino game-maker Universal Entertainment Corp.

The move will make it easier for Wynn’s Chief Executive Officer Matt Maddox to bring to a quick close a bitter, six-year battle among shareholders.

It comes on the heels of a surprise announcement last week that Wynn will pay Universal USD2.4 billion to end the fight over a 20 percent stake in the casino operator.

Okada was a Wynn board member in 2012 when the Las Vegas- based company filed a lawsuit against him claiming the bribery allegations threatened its reputation.

The actions stemmed from a separate casino resort Okada was undertaking in the Philippines.

Wynn Resorts currently operates casino-resorts in Las Vegas and Macau and is building one near Boston.

Okada was ousted from Universal last year over fraud accusations. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Universal previously held an almost 20 percent stake in Wynn Resorts through its subsidiary Aruze USA Inc.

Maddox, who took the helm after Steve Wynn stepped down Feb. 6 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has moved aggressively to clean up the company’s image and end the lawsuits.

Wynn Resorts has been mired in investigations pertaining to those allegations while fighting Universal and Elaine Wynn.

Steve Wynn sought to end his battle with his ex-wife two weeks ago, filing a motion to invalidate their 2010 shareholder agreement. However, a judge declined his motion because Universal was a party to that agreement.

With Universal out of the case, Steve Wynn intends to ask the judge on Friday to declare the shareholder agreement with his ex-wife invalid, permitting both to sell their shares. MDT/AP