TOKYO, Sept. 5, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In connection with the Company's casino resort project in the Philippines, certain news outlets have been raising allegations of an illegal cash outflow since the end of last year.
As was already reported in the IR release o June 21, 2013, titled "Announcement Regarding the Investigation Report of the Third-party Committee," it is evident that no bribery was involved in the spending.
Some media outlets asserted without specific grounds that the Company obtained economic zone approval from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) by dishonestly offering money to it.
The Company hereby informs its stakeholders that it has learned that a notification of completion of the procedures for submission of an Anti-Graft Certificate, a document certifying the absence of any bribery or other type of corruption, has reached the local subsidiary that engages in the project.
As explained in the exhibit, the PEZA document dated August 23, 2013 not only describes the specific facts leading up to the granting of the recognition to the Company's project, but it also states that all necessary documents for the presidential announcement of the designation of Okada Resorts as an economic zone and Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc., which is our subsidiary, as a company setting the eco-zone tourism boundaries in accordance with the Republic Act No. 7916 (including its amendments; also known as the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995) was made without any exceptional or special treatment from PEZA and that the normal procedures including submission of an Anti-Graft Certificate as an essential requirement applicable to all developers and boundary setting companies concerning the economic zones designated by PEZA, were completed.
PEZA's explicit statement of the absence of illegal spending by the Company provides objective grounds for the argument that the Company has made. As is clear from the facts stated in the exhibit, on November 28, 2008, which is about one year prior to than the dishonest spending alleged by certain media outlets, it was already evident that the PEZA Board had granted approval for the preliminary qualification examination for developing a site of 30.51 hectares as an economic zone for tourism to Eagle 1, the corporation owning the local site for the Company's project mentioned above, through resolution No. 08-615. This clearly indicates that the Company's spending could not have had any dishonest purpose.
As discussed above, the recent document from PEZA has reconfirmed that the allegations of illegal expenditure by the Company made by certain media outlets is totally unfounded. However, the Company will investigate the facts, including the accusation against those involved in the spending.
The PEZA letter accompanying this release is available at http://media.globenewswire.com/cache/22403/file/21818.pdf
