Trouble is brewing inside Japanese gaming conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp. as the company launches a probe against founder and chairman Kazuo Okada and another director over JPY2 billion (US$18.15 million) illegal fund outflows from its HongKong-based subsidiary.

Universal announced before the Japan Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (Jasdaq) that the firm has suspended the leadership of Okada and Yoshinao Negishi, director and general manager of Universal’s Administrative Division pending the on-going investigation.

According to Universal, there is a possibility that Okada and Negishi committed fraudulent acts when a loan amounting to HKD135-million (US$17.3-million) was transferred to third party from Tiger Asia Resort, ltd on March 20, 2015.

The statement says that all but HK$5 million of the loan was subsequently transferred to Okada Holdings Limited, a company controlled by Okada and his son, and that the purpose of the loan was “to achieve personal benefit for Chairman Okada.”