Kazuo Okada’s tumble from the corporate penthouse is emerging as one of the most dramatic falls from grace in the history of the modern casino industry.

The Japanese billionaire, who founded slot giant Universal Entertainment Corp. and was its longtime chairman, played a key role in the rise of Wynn Resorts, and developed a highly lucrative casino megaresort in the Philippines, now finds himself tossed out of the entities he was so integrally involved in creating.

The last major casino player to exit the racket this abruptly caught a fusillade of lead in Beverly Hills.

As first reported in The Indy last week, Nevada’s Gaming Control Board is investigating developments in the Okada debacle. That was before the slot king was thrown out of another corporate entity he helped create. Those developments are piling up.

Okada, 74, was recently kicked off Universal’s board after an internal audit uncovered an unauthorized $17 million “outflow” of funds from the company through a subsidiary controlled by the chairman to a third party. News of the unauthorized “loan” was posted by the company with the Japan Exchange and has led to the appointment of an independent investigation committee, which continues to uncover suspicious activity.

Okada, who owns 74 percent of Universal stock, is already under investigation by the FBI for possible violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after the discovery of an alleged $40 million payment in 2010 to a Manila-based consultant connected to the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which regulates the casino industry in that country.

The Universal embarrassment led to the decision to boot Okada from the board of company subsidiary Tiger Asia Resort Limited, which operates the Okada Manila casino. “As a consequence of the recent actions at Universal Entertainment Corporation (U.E.C), a special stockholders meeting of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc. (TRLEI) was convened, followed by an organizational meeting of the board,” the company stated in a news release.

Okada may have been an enigma in the media, but his hard-driving leadership of Universal made it an industry leader. He managed to stay off the press radar long after it became a top developer and supplier of slot machines.

That profile changed in 2000 when he teamed up with Steve Wynn to finance Wynn Resorts, which resulted in two Strip properties and a substantial investment in the immensely lucrative but at times treacherous Macau casino market. With Wynn’s influence, Okada gained a household seal of approval with Nevada gaming regulators.

When Okada insisted on pursuing a large casino project in Manila and began generating suspicions of possible bribery of Philippines gaming officials, his friendship with Wynn was jeopardized and his time on the Wynn Resorts board was numbered. Bitter doesn’t begin to describe the acrimony between the two. Okada’s 2012 ouster from Wynn Resorts generated a lawsuit that’s ongoing.

Last week, Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett made it clear the Okada odyssey was the focus of an investigation. Okada’s latest ouster is a sign there’s little time to waste.

Universal isn’t just another operator. It sells its products throughout the gaming industry. Casinos great and small rely on the absolute veracity of its games and credibility of the company.

Okada’s push into the Philippines appears to have pressed well beyond the envelope that exists when gaming companies enter new markets overseas. The possible payment of a $40 million bribe is more than troubling; the verification by Universal’s own auditor of an unauthorized $17 million “outflow” to Okada and into the shadows should sound the alarm back in Nevada.

The decision of Universal’s board to oust its founder was smart, and may have saved the company’s stock, but the entire Okada affair begs for a calling forward of the former chairman and a public airing of the ugly facts.

Kazuo Okada has fallen from grace -- game over. But the control board can help determine whether he takes others with him.

 John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.

Feature photo: This image originally posted to Flickr by Jeff Kubina at http://flickr.com/photos/95118988@N00/347687569. It is licensed under Creative Commons 2.0 on Wikipedia.