THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE
David C. Farmer, Successor Trustee
vs.
Bobby N. Harmon
(Formerly Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon and James Nicholson vs. Harmon)
CV05-00030 DAE/KSC
United States District Court, District of Hawaii
Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang
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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS
WENDELL BROOKS, JR
126 Queen Street, #226
Honolulu, HI 96813-4409
Fax: (808) 536-0890
Email: WendellBrooksJr@aol.com
Wendell Brooks, Jr. is a Real Estate & Business Consultant, and a founding partner of
Chaney Brooks & Co. Mr. Brooks was the acting Commercial Assets Division Director for
Kamehameha Schools since the position was created in 2000, and until he was replaced by
Sanford Murata in November, 2001.
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From CV05-00030 - Exhibits - David Farmer’s Conflicts of Interest:
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
Book Review
Greed, Mismanagement and Political Manipulation
at America’s Largest Charitable Trust
by
Afterward
The author submits the following in the spirit of transparency and full disclosure in what continues to be the biggest small town in the Pacific.
I have lived in Hawaii since 1966. I was a student of Professor Roth at the William S. Richardson law school in the early '80s and worked closely with him on the 1998 Hawaii Bar Association Centennial Anniversary show when he served as HSBA president. I have also been his colleague when I taught as a visiting and adjunct professor at the school.
I was an associate and partner from 1986 to 1995 with the law firm of Case & Lynch, now Case Lombard! & Pettit, which traces its origin in1888 to William Owen Smith, one of the initial trustees under the will and also incidentally one of the architects of the overthrow of the monarchy.
I also was counsel with Ashford & Wriston from 1998 through 2001, one of the firms criticized by a court-appointed master for not seeing conflicts related to trustee misconduct, but also a well respected firm I know first-hand to have the most impeccable and highest ethical and professional standards.
Good friends include Wendell Brooks, who served two years as Kamehameha Schools' chief investment officer after the removal of the trustees; Rick Daysog, whose Honolulu Advertiser reports were specially acknowledged for their excellence; and Lavonne Leong, rightfully praised as the writers' "absolutely superb editor."
Finally, one of my oldest friends is Larry Kamakawiwo'ole, a Kamehameha alumnus and the courageous leader of the Kalama Valley struggle in the 1970s, described in Chapter 4 of the book but without identifying his name.
David C Farmer has served as an editor of the Hawaii Bar Journal and member of the Publications Committee since 1991.
He currently practices in the areas of bankruptcy, collections, and creditors' rights with his own firm, David C Farmer Attorney at Law LLLC.
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rroth/untitled%20(1).pdf
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Trust sets record on educational spending
Despite losing money, Kamehameha Schools
still spends $144.2 million
By Sally Apgar, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Kamehameha Schools spent a record $144.2 million on educational programs in its last fiscal year, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The money was spent on its preschool to grade 12 students and to reach thousands more Hawaiian children in off-campus educational programs or financial aid.
"The emphasis and focus of the trust has been extending the legacy to more Hawaii children, and I think the financial activity of the trust reflects that," Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said yesterday about the increase in educational spending.
At the same time, Kamehameha, like many companies and institutions over the past two fiscal years, was hit hard in the stock market and on other investments. Unlike the previous two years, last year's losses were not offset by the whopping windfall the trust received from selling its stake in the New York investment firm of Goldman Sachs LLP after it went public.
For the year ending June 30, 2002, the trust listed a loss of $93 million for one group of investments compared to a gain of $548 million the year before when it benefited from selling shares in Goldman Sachs.
The trust, which has $4 billion in assets, had revenues of $174 million in fiscal 2002 compared with revenues of $303.5 million the year earlier when the trust spent $138.7 million on educational programs.
What the trust spends on educational programs is budgeted a year or more ahead of time so it is not directly tied to the revenues earned in the year the money is spent.
In fiscal 2002, Kamehameha educated 4,835 students in its preschool-to-grade 12 program, which serves about 7 percent of native Hawaiian children.
"We reach more than 12,000 other students through various programs outside of the campuses," said Paulsen....
In addition to education programs, Kamehameha spent $120 million on capital and major repair projects. Among the major projects is the design and initial construction of high school facilities for Kamehameha's Maui and Hawaii campuses.
In the late 1990s, when the five trustees each earned between $800,000 and $1 million a year, the big news of the annual tax return typically was how much they made. But since the investigations of the IRS and the state attorney general and the ouster of the previous board, major educational and financial reforms have been instituted.
Last year, all five trustees together made a total of $525,000. The trustees' individual compensations ranged from a low of $99,000 to a high of $113,500.
The highest paid officer was Wendell Brooks Jr., the trust's former chief investment officer, who received $504,160 in salary and $4,088 in employee benefits. Brooks left in November 2001 and the amount included a severance package, said Paulsen.
Hamilton McCubbin, who resigned recently as chancellor and chief executive, was paid $350,240 in salary, $8,608 in benefits and $103,500 for his expense account and other allowances. McCubbin has a $400,000 severance package with the trust.
Colleen Wong, the chief legal officer for the trust, who has been appointed acting CEO, was paid $168,831 in salary and another $9,231 in benefits. Mike Chun, headmaster of the schools, was paid $195,057 and $1,111 in benefits.
During the height of the scandal of the late 1990s, the trust maintained armies of inside and outside accountants and lawyers. Now, the highest paid outside firm is Group 70 International, a Honolulu architectural firm that was paid $5 million.
Arthur Andersen, the accounting and management consulting firm, came in second at $1.5 million.
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Wendell Brooks, Jr. is expected to testify regarding his business, professional, political and personal relationships with David C. Farmer, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate, Nathan Aipa, Colleen Wong, Louanne Kam, Hamilton McCubbin, Wally Chin, Eric Yeaman, Dennis Fern, Diane Plotts, Chris Hemmeter, Michael McKenzie, McKenzie Methane, Kukui Inc, Aloha Petroleum, Bishop Holdings Co, Pauahi Holdings Co., P&C Insurance Company, Arthur Andersen, Mark McConaghy, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Marsh & McLennan, Gensiro Kawamoto, Guido Giacometti, Mufi Hannemann, and others to be named upon discovery.
Related sites:
http://www.mufihannemann.com/press-releases.html
http://www.ksbe.edu/allpdfs/2000spring/2000spring.exec.pdf
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Brooks_Wendell_1058248.aspx
http://www.kycbs.net/Broken-Trust-Book.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Doc-Guttman-To-AAA-6-19-4.pdf
http://www.kycbs.net/CB-Richard-Ellis.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Developers.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/PunaConnection.htm