Okada removed from Wynn Macau board Wynn Macau, the casino operator, has removed Kazuo Okada from its board as the group continues to distance itself from the Japanese billionaire whom it accuses of violating US anti-bribery laws. The move follows a tumultuous ten days in which Wynn Resorts, the parent group, has accused Mr Okada of improper conduct and the Japanese businessman has made his own allegations against the casino empire he cofounded with Steve Wynn. "Taking into account the company's high ethical standards, the board determined that it was obligated to remove Mr Okada as a non-executive director given the unacceptable conduct by Mr Okada," the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday. On Thursday night it emerged that the US Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into allegations that Mr Okada made at least $110,000 in unauthorised payments to two gaming officials in the Philippines, where he is seeking to build a casino resort of his own. The claims were made in a lawsuit Wynn Resorts filed on Sunday and are based on a three-month internal investigation conducted by Louis Freeh, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Wynn's board last weekend unilaterally redeemed Mr Okada's 20 per cent stake in Wynn Resorts for $1.9bn, or a 30 per cent discount to its market value - a move that Mr Okada is trying to block by applying for a temporary injunction. The group also this week requested he resign from the board of Wynn Resorts. Under US law, removing him from the parent company's board would require a shareholder vote but, under Hong Kong rules, Wynn Macau's board had the power to remove Mr Okada as a director. The company argues that such inside knowledge of the casino business helped Mr Okada obtain a licence to build a competing property in the Philippines. Last week, Wynn disclosed that the SEC had launched a preliminary inquiry into allegations Mr Okada made in a lawsuit he filed last month against the company concerning a $135m donation a Wynn subsidiary made to the University of Macau. Additional reporting by Enid Tsui