THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has been formally asked to take over the investigation of the leakage of the resolution in the $10-million estafa cases against gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada.
In a complaint filed before the DOJ, Japanese gaming firm Tiger Resorts Leisure & Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) also asked Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra to sanction Parañaque City Prosecutor Amerhassan Paudac for the leakage.
The firm accused Paudac of violating the rules and procedures, and the Code of Conduct for Prosecutors in handling cases before his office for allegedly leaking copies of his resolution dismissing the estafa cases against Okada.
The leakage was learned after the dispositive portions of the decision was posted in the social-media accounts of Korean national Chloe Kim believed to be Okada’s girlfriend.
TRLEI is the owner and operator of the posh Okada Manila at the sprawling Entertainment City in Parañaque City where Okada was its chief executive officer before he was kicked out last year for allegedly embezzling more than $10 million in company funds.
Earlier, the TRLEI sought the investigation of Paudac for the leaks, and demanded that the prosecutor recuse himself from the cases pending in his office.
Paudac has inhibited himself from the case but proceeded to officially release the accused, stressing that the resolutions are maintained.
Paudac also formed a panel to look into the leakage and even requested the National Bureau of Investigation to make a forensic examination of Kim’s social-media accounts to determine if said posts “are fake or not, and how and from whom said account holder was able to obtain said photographs.”
But, the TRLEI said Paudac’s order for investigation will be self-serving and may be a prelude to a whitewash.