After all, it was the nature of twentieth-century capitalism that everyone should scam everyone, and he who scammed the most ultimately won the game. – Wolf of Wall Street

It was a savage first half for the top billionaires.

The world’s richest guys lost sums unimaginable in the reckoning of plain folks like you and me.

But has anyone seen just one of them grimace and say even a muted “ouch!”?

Elon Musk’s fortune plunged almost $62 billion. Jeff Bezos saw his wealth tumble by about $63 billion. Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth was slashed by more than half.

All told, the world’s 500 richest people lost $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022, a dizzying decline that marks the steepest six-month drop ever for the global billionaire class.

It’s a sharp departure from the previous two years, when the fortunes of the ultra-rich swelled as governments and central banks unleashed unprecedented stimulus measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, juicing the value of everything from tech companies to cryptocurrencies.

Though the losses are piling up for the world’s richest people, it only represents a modest move toward narrowing wealth inequality.

Musk, Tesla’s co-founder, still has the biggest fortune on the planet, at $208.5 billion, while Amazon’s Bezos is second with a $129.6 billion net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Still, the billionaire class has amassed so much wealth in recent years that not only can the vast majority withstand the worst first half since 1970 for the S&P 500 Index, but they’re likely looking for bargains, said Thorne Perkin, president of Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management.

“Often their mindset is a bit more contrarian,” Perkin said. “A lot of our clients look for opportunities when there’s trouble in the streets.”

For the world’s richest, the prospect of getting more is always better. Why indeed settle for less?

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Shopkeepers are decent folks who ply their trade behind the counter.

They transact business up close and personal, a practice that generates public trust and customer loyalty.

On the other hand, you know a guy is up to no good when he has a local business but runs it from afar.

Kazuo Okada has established quite an international reputation — for serial deceit, that is.

In fact, Okada, who is living in Japan, is leery of even visiting the country because of an outstanding criminal case filed against him.

Last month, Okada Manila was embroiled in a controversy when the camp of Kazuo and his Filipino business pals violently stormed and took over the famous hotel and casino.

On May 31, using a status quo ante order from the Supreme Court, Kazuo, in cahoots with some influential Filipino businessmen barged inside the hotel and casino, illegally assuming management and deploying a sham board of directors.

It turns out that the High Court order — a temporary relief or measure while reviewing the merits of a case — merely required that the parties reinstate the state of affairs before Okada was ousted from TRLEI in 2017.

Accordingly Kazuo, aware that he has no allies in TRAL, UEC, and OHL to support him, “perverted and abused” the order of the SC by allegedly employing brute force and intimidation in taking over the premises of Okada Manila.

His lack of corporate support stems deeply from his character as a businessman.

Just because a business establishment carries his name doesn’t mean it is his — he is not the owner of the Okada Manila hotel and casino, known its world-class games, top-notch amenities, and warm hospitality.

True, Okada and colleague Takahiro Usui previously held management positions in Okada Manila

But now, he is not even a shareholder in Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., the operator of the hotel and casino.

According to records, Kazuo has long been ousted from the board of TRLEI allegedly due to mismanagement and has also lost the confidence of investors and shareholders in Tiger Resort Asia Ltd., Universal Entertainment Corp., and even Okada Holdings Ltd.

Court records showed that Okada and Usui had embezzled at least $3.16 million before their ouster in 2017.

The duo were charged with estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code for the unauthorized disbursement to Okada of $443,835.62 on or about 30 April 2017, $2.22 million on or about 9 May 2017, and another $500,000 on or about 30 May 2017.

As confirmed by TRLEI’s Corporate Secretary in a Letter-Certification dated Oct. 16, 2017, TRLEI’s Board of Directors never issued any resolution determining or fixing Okada’s supposed salary and consultancy fee.

Despite demand, Kazuo and Usui failed to return to TRLEI the foregoing amounts Okada unlawfully received.

Under Philippine laws, if the amount of fraud exceeded P8.8 million, perpetrators who were found guilty may be punished with life imprisonment.

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Okada is known to have shown deceitful behavior throughout his years in business with legal cases hounding him here and abroad.

All told, the Japanese businessman, is facing 29 cases in at least six countries around the world for the last decade.

Broken down, he is facing 12 cases in Japan, six in Hong Kong, seven in the Philippines, one in South Korea, one in Macau, and two in the United States.

Almost all of these cases are rooted in his character, with petitioners charging him with falsifying documents, swindling, and other deceits.

In Japan, he recently lost an appeal to the Tokyo High Court, in seeking to overturn the ruling of a Tokyo District Court that found him guilty of breaching his duty as manager of Universal Entertainment Inc.

The Japanese court ruled that Kazuo Okada made an improper loan of HKD136 million to a company owned by a certain Li Jian, a close associate of the Japanese businessman.

The court also found that Kazuo personally benefited to the amount of HKD16 million from the transaction.