Wynn Resorts Ltd. hit back Friday against board member Kazuo Okada in their legal dispute, calling Okada’s latest charges recycled and baseless.
Las Vegas-based Wynn, a casino-resort operator, and Okada have been fighting since January over charges and countercharges of wrongdoing.
Okada, a Japanese billionaire, has been questioning Wynn’s decision to pledge a $135 million donation to the University of Macau in China, where Wynn has a valuable casino license. Okada has suggested this donation is tied to the gaming license, which Wynn denies.
Wynn CEO Steve Wynn and the rest of the Wynn board allied with him — everyone except Okada — have been trying to remove Okada from the company after learning he provided benefits to gaming regulators from the Philippines, where he has a casino development deal.
Steve Wynn and his allies on the board say Okada must go because his continued association with the company could jeopardize its gaming licenses.
Okada has denied wrongdoing.
In his latest legal initiative, Okada asked the federal court in Nevada on Thursday to reverse Wynn Resorts’ forced redemption of his $2.7 billion in stock.
In a lawsuit filing and press release, Okada complained the Wynn board moved against him after he questioned the Macau donation and that ''Steve Wynn has indulged in fraud, deception, theft and betrayal to maintain control of his gaming enterprises.''
Wynn Resorts countered Friday with a statement of its own.
''Mr. Okada is recycling his previous baseless allegations in the press, while continuing to interfere with the judicial process by refusing to accept service of court documents. The facts clearly justify the carefully considered actions taken by the Wynn Board to redeem an unsuitable shareholder in order to protect the company and its shareholders,'' Wynn’s statement said.
Wynn’s comment about Okada refusing to accept service of court documents relate to the fact that in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit filed by Wynn Resorts against Okada and his companies, only his companies Aruze USA Inc. and Universal Entertainment Corp. have been served with the suit.
The Wynn board members, in the meantime, agreed to accept service of an Okada counterclaim in that lawsuit, which is pending in federal court.
Wynn Resorts attorneys have said this is more than a technicality. In another lawsuit pending in Clark County District Court filed by Okada, he's trying to gain access to Wynn books and records.
Wynn attorneys have said the state court action is a maneuver by Okada to gain information for the main lawsuit in federal court without ever agreeing to be served in the federal case -- charges denied by the Okada side.