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
~ ~ ~
DEFENDANT’S WITNESS
NATHAN AIPA
Nathan Aipa is president of Native Hawaiian Bar Association; former Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate General Counsel and principal executive for their Legal Group; former Asst. Secretary/Asst. Treasurer, P&C Insurance Co.; Defendant in CV99-00304-DAE (the “RICO” lawsuit); a signatory to the Settlement Agreement..
Pitluck Kido Stone & Aipa, LLP
701 Bishop St.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Email: nathan@pitluck.com
* * * * *
528 U.S. 495 (2000), was a case filed in 1996 by Big Island rancher Harold "Freddy" Rice against the state of Hawaii and argued before the United States Supreme Court. In 2000 the court ruled that the state could not restrict eligibility to vote in elections for the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to persons of Native Hawaiian descent.
Rice was represented by attorney John Goemans, an active opponent of programs, public or private, that benefit Native Hawaiians preferentially. John Roberts (who would later become the Chief Justice of the United States) argued for Ben Cayetano, the governor of Hawaii at the time.
The February 2000 court ruling in Rice v. Cayetano encouraged Hawaiian sovereignty opponents to file a similar lawsuit, Arakaki v. State of Hawai‘i, months later. As the Rice case resulted in non-Hawaiians being allowed to vote in OHA elections, the Arakaki case resulted in non-Hawaiians being allowed to stand as candidates in OHA elections.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_v._Cayetano
~ o ~
JOHN GOEMANS: CRUSADER FOR A COLOR-BLIND AMERICA
* * * * *
* * * * *
NEW DISCOVERY (05-08-09): New Zoominfo profile for Nathan Aipa provides more undisclosed conflicts of interests between numerous entities involved in this fraudulent, unconstitutional lawsuit:
Zoominfo - Person ID=942679012
www.zoominfo.com/Search/ReferencesView.aspx?PersonID=942679012
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (04-17-09): More evidence of fraud, bad faith, racketeering, money-laundering, undisclosed conflicts of interests, etc. between numerous entities and witnesses involved in this case:
April 17, 2009
AIG Hawaii sold to Farmers
State's 3rd-largest automobile insurer will change names when deal is done in summer
BY GREG WILES, Advertiser Staff Writer
AIG Hawaii, the state's third-largest automobile insurer, is being sold as part of a $1.9 billion deal as owner American International Group Inc. takes steps to repay some of the billions owed in government bailout money.
The deal announced yesterday involves Los Angeles-based Farmers Group Inc. buying AIG's auto insurance unit, a move that will expand Farmers into Hawai'i for the first time.
Yesterday Farmers Chief Executive Officer Robert Woudstra said that Farmers had no immediate plans to make any changes to AIG Hawaii's 310-person staff or operations.
"It's a good fit," Woudstra said from his Los Angeles office, explaining Farmers does not have any business in the state currently.
He said, however, the AIG Hawaii name will disappear.
"I can't tell you right now what we're going to call it, but the AIG name will have to go away."
AIG Hawaii had been contemplating a name change on its own given the stigma of being associated with its parent company, which had severe financial problems and needed a Federal Reserve-led rescue to avoid collapse last year.
In October, AIG put its auto group on the market as it looked for ways to pay off some of the bailout, which now totals about $182.5 billion.
AIG Hawaii President and Chief Executive Officer Robin Campaniano yesterday called the sale a positive development for the local unit. In 2008 AIG Hawaii's premiums written fell to about $100 million, about $18 million less than a year earlier.
Campaniano said some of the decline may have been due to clients departing because of the parent company's problems. A downturn in the Hawai'i economy contributed also.
"We're delighted that this is happening," said Campaniano.
"We're hopeful and very optimistic that the strength of Zurich and Farmers will greatly add to the presence we have in Hawai'i."
Farmers is owned by Zurich Financial Services Group, a Swiss company that serves customers in 170 countries and has business customers in Hawai'i.
AIG Hawaii insures about 100,000 cars in Hawai'i, along with offering homeowners, life, commercial and other insurance. Only Geico and State Farm insure more cars in the state.
Woudstra said he became familiar with the Hawai'i operations in examining AIG's business and that "it has performed exceedingly well for AIG."
"The only product that they write that we don't is flood (insurance)."
He said he had gotten good reports about Campaniano, with people saying nothing but positive things about his reputation.
The AIG automobile business was operated under a unit known as 21st Century Insurance Group, which owned AIG Hawaii as well as running operations in 28 other states. The sale will require the approval of state insurance commissioners.
Yesterday Hawai'i Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt said he would closely look at the deal because of the role AIG Hawaii plays in the state.
"Farmers and Zurich are both good, solid companies, so that's a good thing," Schmidt said. "But we'll be looking at the details and specifics to ensure that the people of Hawai'i are taken care of in the best possible manner.”
The sale may be completed this summer. Schmidt said he and other insurance commissioners had been working on a uniform application process so that the sale approval can be processed efficiently.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904170352
# # #
Catbird Note: More pages related to “good, solid companies,” Farmers and Zurich:
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/0060-2007/nr091-2007.cfm
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/farmers_insurance_lawsuits.htm
~ ~ ~
See also: http://www.voy.com/129276/1328.html
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (04-01-09): More undisclosed conflicts of interests between Judges David Ezra, Kevin Chang, Eden Elizabeth Hifo, Barry Kurren and Nathan Aipa, Henry Peters, etc.:
CV05-00030 - U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trustee, David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Bobby N. Harmon-Exhibit: "Ex-trustee Peters sues trust's former counsel" & Witnesses: Henry Peters, Nathan Aipa, etc.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 2:58 PM
From:
Bobby N. Harmon
To:
"Barack H. Obama" <info@barackobama.com>, "Eric Holder" <AskDOJ@usdoj.gov>, "David Farmer" <farmerd001@hawaii.rr.com>, "Steven Guttman" <sguttman@kdubm.com>, "Carol K. Muranaka" <ustp.region15@usdoj.gov>, "David A. Ezra" <theresa_lam@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Judith Neustadter" <Judy@tiki.net>, "Kevin S.C. Chang" <shari_afuso@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Barry M. Kurren" <tammy_kimura@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Securities & Exchange Commission Enforcement Division" <enforcement@sec.gov>, "U.S. Treasury Dept. Office of Inspector General" <hotline@oig.treas.gov>, "Office of Inspector General US Dept of Justice" <oig.hotline@usdoj.gov>, "Executive Office for U.S. Trustees" <ustrustee.program@usdoj.gov>, "Robert Faris" <hib@hib.uscourts.gov>, "Anthony Romero" <Executive_director@aclu.org>, "ACLU of Kentucky" <info@aclu-ky.org>, "Electronic Freedom Foundation" <information@eff.org>, "Public Citizen" <publiccitizen@mail.democracyinaction.org>, "Thomas Fitton" <info@judicialwatch.org>, "SEC Office of The Inspector General" <oig@sec.gov>
Cc:
"ACLU Hawaii" <office@acluhawaii.org>, "All Representatives" <reps@Capitol.hawaii.gov>, "All Senators" <sens@Capitol.hawaii.gov>, "Andrew Walden" <hfpeditor@email.com>, "Aon Insurance Managers" <mike_coulter@agl.aon.com>, "Arthur Rath" <imua@spamarrest.com>, "Benjamin Kudo" <bkudo@imanakakudo.com>, "Bradley Tamm" <btamm@hawaii.rr.com>, "Carl Morton" <ethics@hawaiiethics.org>, "Charles Goodwin" <HONOLULU@FBI.GOV>, "Charles Hurd" <mcp@mediatehawaii.org>, "David Shapiro" <volcanicash@gmail.com>, "Dee Jay Mailer" <ksinfo@ksbe.edu>, "Dorothy Sellers" <hawaiiag@hawaii.gov>, "Executive Office for U.S. Trustees" <ustrustee.program@usdoj.gov>, "Hugh Jones" <hugh.r.jones@hawaii.gov>, "Insurance Division Fraud Branch" <insfraud@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "J C Shannon" <Hapa1234@aol.com>, "James B Nicholson" <jamesbnicholson@aol.com>, "James B. Farris" <Farrisj@adr.org>, "James Cribley" <jcribley@caselombardi.com>, "James Wriston" <jwriston@awlaw.com>, "Jeffrey Watanabe" <jwatanabe@wik.com>, "Jim Dooley" <jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com>, "Jo Ann Uchida" <rico@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "Joe Moore" <news@khon2.com>, "John D. Finnegan" <info@chubb.com>, "John Goemans" <wip@kamuela.com>, "Judge Lloyd King" <hib@hib.uscourts.gov>, "Judith Neustadter" <Judy@tiki.net>, "Judson Witham" <jurisnot2@yahoo.com>, "Ken Conklin" <ken_conklin@yahoo.com>, "Kenneth Hipp" <khipp@marrhipp.com>, "Lawrence Reifurth" <dcca@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "Linda Lingle" <governor.lingle@hawaii.gov>, "Lyn Flanigan Anzai" <lflanigan@hsba.org>, "Margery Bronster" <info@bchlaw.net>, "Marsh Affinity Group" <prosecure@marshpm.com>, "Michael N. Tanoue" <mtanoue@paclawgroup.com>, "Michelle Tucker" <michelle@sterlingandtucker.com>, "Nathan Aipa" <nathan@pitluck.com>, "Office of Inspector General Civil Rights Complaints" <inspector.general@usdoj.gov>, "Office of the U.S. Trustee District of Hawaii" <ustp.region15@usdoj.goV>, "Paul Alston" <palston@ahfi.com>, "Randall Roth" <rroth@hawaii.edu>, "Rick Daysog" <rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com>, "Robert Bruce Graham" <bgraham@awlaw.com>, "Robin Campaniano" <aigh001@aighawaii.com>, "Samuel P. King" <leslie_sai@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Susan Tius" <STius@rmhawaii.com>, "William K Slate" <Websitemail@adr.org>, "Jim Terrack" <tnthawaii@aol.com>, "Don Michak" <dmichak@journalinquirer.com>, "Rocco Sansone" <rocco.c.sansone@marsh.com>, "Ted Pettit" <tpettit@caselombardi.com>, "Mark Burch" <burch@hawaii.edu>, "Laura Thielen" <dlnr@hawaii.gov>, "Vaughn & Lynda Robinson" <ronpaulslcutah@yahoo.com>, "Rebecca Christie" <rchristie4@bloomberg.net>, "Catbird" <the-catbird@hotmail.com>, "James Duca" <jduca@kdubm.com>, "Ian Lind" <diary@ilind.net>, "Roy F. Hughes" <hthughes@hawaii.rr.com>, "Malia Zimmerman" <Malia@hawaiireporter.com>, "Elisa Yadao" <Ka_Hana@notes.k12.hi.us>, "Jack Cashill" <JCashill@aol.com>, "Marshall Chriswell" <mc@whistleblowers.org>, "Tom Flocco" <tom2@tomflocco.com>, "Eric Shine" <civilrights911@socal.rr.com>, "Laser Haas" <laserhaas@msn.com>, "Lucy Komisar" <lkomisar@msn.com>, "Democrats.com" <activist@democrats.com>, "Debra Sweet" <debrasweet@worldcantwait.org>, "Jane Kirtley" <kirt001@umn.edu>, "V K Durham" <vkdtdht@pionet.net>, "John Jubinsky" <Jube@tghawaii.com>, "Yamil Berard" <yberard@star-telegram.com>, "Ian McDonald" <ian.mcdonald@wsj.com>, "Michael Moore" <bailout@michaelmoore.com>
Posted on: Friday, July 25, 2003
Ex-trustee Peters sues trust's former counsel
By Curtis Lum, Advertiser Staff Writer
Former Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters has filed a lawsuit against former Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate general counsel Nathan Aipa, charging that Aipa violated attorney-client confidentiality.
The lawsuit was filed yesterday in state Circuit Court by attorney Eric Seitz on behalf of Peters. It named Aipa as a defendant, but did not include KSBE, now known as Kamehameha Schools.
Peters is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages. Aipa could not be reached for comment.
Peters was a trustee of the Bishop Estate from 1984 until he resigned in December 1999 amidst allegations that he and the other trustees mismanaged the billion-dollar trust and abused their power. Aipa served as chief counsel of KSBE from 1985 to 2001 and is now in private practice.
In the lawsuit, Peters said he met regularly with Aipa and provided information to the counsel pertaining to Peters' role as a trustee. Peters "reasonably expected and relied upon the confidentiality of his communications with Aipa," the lawsuit stated.
But Peters' lawsuit said that beginning in 1998, Aipa "repeatedly" disclosed the confidential information to "various parties and entities." Aipa also repeated confidential information at grand jury proceedings, the lawsuit said.
Peters said Aipa did not seek or receive any waiver of the attorney-client privilege.
As a result of Aipa's actions, the suit said, Peters suffered "severe and continuing damage" to his reputation and a loss of income.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jul/25/ln/ln24a.html
# # #
References:
Zoominfo Profile for Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU
www.zoominfo.com/Search/ReferencesView.aspx?PersonID=912950374
www.kycbs.net/Zoominfo-Profile-Bobby-N-Harmon-CPCU.htm
Documents, Letters, News Articles and Related Links
http://www.kycbs.net/Broken-Trust-Book.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/KSpension.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Lost-Generations.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/PC-Coopers-Lybrand-11-20-96.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/AAA-IRS-10-10-0.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Claims-Branch-Kamehameha.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Claims-Branch-P-C.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Confessions.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-OUST-vs-Harmon.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Aipa-Nathan.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Peters-Henry.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Freedom-To-Sing.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/Harmon-Arbitration.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/JUSTICE.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/RICO-BH.htm
http://www.kycbs.net/SLAPP.htm
April 1, 2009
Dear President Obama, Attorney General Holder, Mr. Farmer; Mr. Guttman; Ms. Muranaka; Judge Ezra, Judge Chang, Judge Kurren, and All Concerned:
Due to the new discovery of material facts in this case, I am adding the subject Exhibit which provides evidence of breach of confidentiality and attorney-client priviledge in this case as well as in the Peters vs. Aipa case described in this news article. The financial, professional, political and personal relationships between these two individuals (as shown in their witness descriptions), also provides factual evidence of undisclosed conflicts of interest among various entities involved in this lawsuit, including many, if not all, of the judges involved.
In view of all the facts that I have presented in this and hundreds of other Exhibits and witness descriptions, it is beyond comprehension that Judges Eden Hifo (fka Bambi Weil), Kevin Chang, David Ezra, Barry Kurren, Lloyd King, and Robert Faris, and Trustees Mary Lou Woo, James Nicholson, and David C. Farmer; the American Arbitration Association arbitrator Judith Neustadter Fuqua, and attorney Steven Guttman can still claim that they were non-conflicted, impartial, and unbiased in this case.
In spite of all this factual evidence, however, I am again asking that we attempt to reach a global settlement of this matter through confidential negotiation or mediation rather than continuing these costly and seemingly-endless court proceedings.
If you still are NOT willing to attempt to negotiate or mediate a settlement, then I ask that you do your required review this new Exhibit and advise me if you find it contains any so-called "protected subject matter", and whether or not you intend to OBJECT to my filing a Motion to reopen this case.
Mr. Farmer, I respectfully request your immediate reply. If I do not receive a response from you or your insurance carrier within 15 days, I will assume that you have found no "protected subject matter" in these updated pages, and that you will NOT file any objections to my Motion.
Very truly yours,
Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (12-27-08): Undisclosed conflicts of interests between David Farmer, Steven Guttman, Jeffrey Portnoy, Matsuo Takabuki, Mark McConaghy, Dennis Tsuhako, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sam Silverman, Chinn Ho, Stuart Ho, Aloha Airlines, HonFed, Bank of Honolulu, Sukamto Sia, Diane Plotts, Linda Lingle, Bob Awana, Nathan Aipa, Eric Martinson, Chubb Group, Marsh & McLennan, etc:
July 17, 1998
Hawaii
By Dave Donnelly
Portnoy on NBC
on Kimes case
IF you tune in NBC's "Dateline" tonight, you should see Honolulu attorney Jeffrey Portnoy. An NBC crew spent two hours with him Wednesday, interviewing him in reference to the case of Sante Kimes and her son, Kenneth, suspected in the disappearance and assumed death of New York socialite Irene Silverman.
Portnoy had represented an insurance company in an earlier case in which Kimes, already convicted of keeping an alien woman in slavery, was suspected of arson when her home went up in flames. He has videotape of Kimes, something all the networks would love to get their hands on, and he provided it to NBC for "Dateline."
Producers of "20/20" have been after him to give them a copy of the tape, even offering to have Barbara Walters call him personally, but he demurred that he'd given it exclusively to NBC. That network told him the Kimes' story is the biggest thing at the network since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
One unasked and unanswered question in the case is did the Kimes family know the missing socialite when she and her husband, Sam Silverman, were in Hawaii around the time they lived here? I knew Sam Silverman as early as 1970 when he was the financial advisor and longtime friend of local business tycoon Chinn Ho. I posed the question and Portnoy answered, "It wouldn't surprise me a bit." ...
www.archives.starbulletin.com/98/07/17/features/donnelly.html
Related pages:
An Unlikely Revolutionary: Matsuo Takabuki and the Making of ... - Google Books Result
by Matsuo Takabuki - 1998 - History - 237 pages -1998 University of Hawaii Press ... from the eyes of Matsy Takabuki working with Chinn Ho and Sam Silverman, ...
A FAMILY PORTRAIT: A special report.; A Twisted Tale of Deceit ...
Mrs. Silverman, an 82-year-old widow, was probably killed, officials say, ..... Mrs. Kimes filed suit against Chubb and began making threatening calls to Chubb ... were filed in the fire, which was never formally declared to be arson. ... Even before it could be bought, Mrs. Kimes was submitting an insurance claim ...
An Unlikely Revolutionary: Matsuo Takabuki and the Making of ... - Google Books Result
by Matsuo Takabuki - 1998 - History - 237 pages
Mitch Gilbert and Eric Martinson were the number-crunchers. They had computer printouts ... Nathan Aipa, our general counsel, headed our legal side....
An Unlikely Revolutionary: Matsuo Takabuki and the Making of ... - Google Books Result
by Matsuo Takabuki - 1998 - History - 237 pages
Matsuo Takabuki 1998 University of Hawaii Press ... Mark McConaghy of Price Waterhouse headed our tax team along with our staff tax ...
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (11-24-08): New Exhibit: “EQ 2048 - Deposition of Lokelani Lindsey taken on November 4 & 9, 1999". This document provides clear evidence that J. Douglas Ing had multiple conflicts-of-interest in this case and, since he was not a named Defendant in my RICO lawsuit against the former Trustees, he was not a legitimate signatory to the Settlement Agreement: Furthermore, since the Settlement Agreement was NOT SIGNED by any of the five Trustees actually named as Defendants, the Settlement Agreement was not legal or valid. (See Exhibit A)
http://www.kycbs.net/Lindsey-docs-Vol-1-p1-4.pdf
http://www.kycbs.net/Lindsey-docs-Vol-1.pdf
~ ~ ~
NEW UPDATE (09-07-08):
EARL I. ANZAI
Attorney General of Hawaii
DOROTHY D. SELLERS
HUGH R. JONES
Deputy Attorneys General
425 Queen Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Attorneys for the Beneficiaries
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
STATE OF HAWAII
In the Matter of the Estate
of
BERNICE P. BISHOP,
Deceased.
EQUITY NO. 2048 KSCC
~ ~ ~
REPORT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL CONCERNING MAY 7, 1999 ORDER
The May 7, 1999 order regarding orders to show cause requires the former trustees immediately to resign offices and directorships in the trust’s subsidiary and affiliated organizations... P&C Insurance Company, Inc., is a captive insurance company, the sole stock holder which is Pauahi Holdings Inc.
The Attorney General respectfully invites the court’s attention to the annual report publicly filed on March 28, 2000 by P&C (Ex. 1). The annual report lists Henry H. Peters as a director. The Attorney General is unable to determine whether the listing is incorrect; or whether Peters remains a director in violation of court order. The Attorney General’s several inquiries of the trust concerning this matter remain unanswered despite the passage of three months (Ex. 2).
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, May 5, 2000
Respectfully submitted,
<s> DOROTHY SELLERS
Deputy Attorney General
~ ~ ~
DECLARATION OF DOROTHY SELLERS
DOROTHY SELLERS hereby states:
1. I am a deputy attorney general, and I am familiar with the case records and files in Hawaii First Circuit Court Equity No. 2048 going back to approximately August 1997.
2. I have personal knowledge of the facts contained in this declaration and am competent to testify to them.
3. Exhibit 1 is a true and correct copy of the annual report of P&C Insurance Company for the year ending Dec. 31, 1999, filed in late March 2000.
4, Exhibit 2 is a true and correct letter of my February 15, 2000 letter to counsel for the trust asking for verification that Henry Peters had resigned from P&C and the effective date of the resignation. I have never received a response to that letter.
5. On March 13, 2000, deputy attorney general Hugh Jones wrote trustee Libkuman (with a copy to general counsel Colleen Wong) about a number of matters. The final two paragraphs of that letter are:
Finally, we also requested some time ago copies of Henry Peters’ letters of resignation from directorships and ex officio positions, and specifically from P&C Insurance Company. Although the resignation letters of the other trustees were filed with the Court, Peters’ were not.
Please respond to these requests before March 31, 2000. Thank you.
I DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY THAT THE FOREGOING IS TRUE AND CORRECT.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, May 5, 2000
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-PC-Peters-5-5-0.pdf
See also:
www.kycbs.net/PC-PriceWaterhouse-8-9-94.pdf
www.kycbs.net/PC-Arms-Length-Guide-10-1-94.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-Mediation-Order-3-9-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/KSBE-INTERROGATORIES.htm
www.kycbs.net/RICO-In-Paradise.htm
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (02-09-08): Kamehameha Schools made a “confidential” settlement agreement with the plaintiff in the John Doe vs. Kamehameha Schools case, which my former attorney, John Goemans, Esq., says, according to what he has learned from the IRS, violates the rules for a non-profit charitable trust:
~ ~ ~
February 8, 2008
Kamehameha Schools settled
lawsuit for $7M
By Jim Dooley, Advertiser Staff Writer
Kamehameha Schools paid $7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by an anonymous student who claimed the schools' Hawaiians-first admissions policy violates civil rights laws, according to an attorney involved in the case.
Terms of the confidential settlement have been a closely guarded secret since it was signed in May just before the U.S. Supreme Court was to decide whether to hear the case.
The settlement ended a four-year effort by a non-Hawaiian teenager, known only as John Doe, to enter the Kamehameha Schools system.
Attorney John Goemans — who planned the legal action, found the plaintiff and brought the case to Sacramento private attorney Eric Grant to litigate — revealed the amount of the settlement in an exclusive interview with The Advertiser.
"The amount of the settlement is important public information that should be disclosed by a charitable institution that receives tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service," Goemans said in a telephone interview.
The lawsuit challenging the schools' admissions policy was the first case of its kind to reach the doors of the U.S. Supreme Court and stirred enormous controversy in Hawai'i.
Critics of the settlement pointed out that additional legal challenges could still be mounted against the admissions policy, and news of the $7 million that the schools paid could increase the chances of new lawsuits.
Local attorney David Rosen, who made news last year by actively seeking plaintiffs for a new challenge to the admissions policy, said yesterday he is preparing a suit against Kamehameha Schools.
Kamehameha Schools, previously known as Bishop Estate, is a nonprofit organization with assets of $7.7 billion.
Grant, appearing yesterday at a University of Hawai'i law school symposium on the lawsuit, known as John Doe vs. Kamehameha Schools, declined to discuss the settlement when told that Goemans had disclosed the $7 million figure.
Kamehameha Schools' lead attorney in the lawsuit, Kathleen Sullivan, a former dean of the Stanford University law school, also declined comment.
"Terms of the settlement are inviolate," said Sullivan, also a participant at the UH symposium yesterday.
Ann Botticelli, spokeswoman for the Kamehameha Schools board of trustees, also declined to comment on Goemans' statements or the size of the settlement.
The settlement says that anyone who discloses its contents is subject to a $2 million penalty, but Goemans said he was not a party to the agreement and never signed it.
Goemans, who is recovering from heart surgery, said yesterday that he was opposed to the $7 million settlement but that "it was the client's decision" to accept it.
PART OF TAX RECORD
Goemans said an attorney representing Grant breached the confidentiality clause by mailing a copy of the agreement to Goemans last year.
Goemans added that Kamehameha Schools must disclose details of the settlement on its 2007 tax return, which is due to be filed later this year, and on annual financial reports the charity is required to file with the state attorney general's office and with the state court.
Tax returns of nonprofit institutions such as Kamehameha Schools are public records under federal law. The institution's annual financial accountings — which date to its founding by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1888 — are also open to the public.
Kamehameha operates three campuses — its flagship at Kapalama Heights on O'ahu, one on Maui and another on the Big Island — for the benefit of children of Hawaiian ancestry.
The institution plays a central role in Hawai'i society, in part because of its financial clout and in part because of its mission to educate children of Hawaiian ancestry. It is also the state's largest private landowner.
There are about 70,000 school-age children with Hawaiian blood, and 5,400 students were enrolled at Kamehameha's various schools last year. Kamehameha served 30,000 other children and adults through outreach programs and through its support of charter schools.
TO SUPREME COURT
Hawai'i federal Judge Alan Kay initially dismissed the John Doe lawsuit in November 2003, upholding the schools' argument that the admissions policy helped address cultural and socio-economic disadvantages that have beset many Hawaiians since the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
The plaintiffs appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned it in a three-judge decision in 2005. That ruling prompted protest rallies, prayer vigils and other gatherings around the state in support of the schools.
Lawyers for Kamehameha Schools then asked that all members of the appellate court review the matter and the full court reversed the three-judge panel's decision by an 8-7 vote in December 2006.
Grant then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, and last May, on the eve of the high court announcement on whether it would take the case, the matter was settled out of court.
"We didn't think that there was a strong possibility (of losing) but that risk is always out there," J. Douglas Ing, chairman of the Kamehameha board of trustees, said in announcing the settlement in 2007. "There are no guarantees and there certainly were no guarantees from our lawyers that we would win the case."
Grant, the attorney for John Doe, said after the case was settled, "Obviously, a settlement is not exactly what either side wanted. But it is something both sides eventually came to terms on."
SPATS OVER FEES
Goemans is involved in a continuing dispute with John Doe, whose identity has never been revealed, and with Grant over how much money Goemans should receive for his part in the case.
Grant received 40 percent of the overall settlement — $2.8 million — although he had to sue the plaintiff and the plaintiff's mother in federal court in Sacramento last year to collect the money, according to Goemans and federal court records.
That collection lawsuit was filed in June after Kamehameha had paid the $7 million settlement. The dispute over the payment of Grant's fee was settled and dismissed in September.
Goemans said he asked John Doe and Jane Doe for 25 percent of the total settlement — $1.75 million — but has not yet received a response.
Grant filed a separate lawsuit against Goemans in California state court last year regarding how much compensation Goemans is owed for his part in the case.
That suit is still pending, although Goemans said he believes it is groundless and will be dismissed.
Grant yesterday declined comment on the collection lawsuit he filed in Sacramento against his own clients or the related action he filed against Goemans.
Goemans said he has received $20,000 in compensation to date from John Doe and his mother and is contemplating filing a new legal action of his own against them.
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February 9, 2008
School's $7M deal
raises ire, eyebrows
By Jim Dooley, Advertiser Staff Writer
Yesterday's disclosure of the $7 million payment made by Kamehameha Schools to settle a civil rights lawsuit prompted questions and anger from individuals on both sides of the schools' controversial admissions policy that gives preference to students of Native Hawaiian ancestry.
"It does seem like a lot of money. It sure would be if it was in my pocket," said University of Hawai'i law school professor Jon Van Dyke, who served as a legal consultant to Kamehameha in the lawsuit.
Van Dyke said yesterday he wasn't part of the settlement discussions and still believes the payment led to the right outcome for the school.
The settlement was signed in May just before the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to announce whether it would hear an appeal of the case. Terms of the settlement had been kept confidential until this week. John Goemans, an attorney for the plaintiff in the case, revealed the $7 million figure to The Advertiser.
The settlement meant that an earlier 8-7 vote by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Kamehameha's admissions policy is still the prevailing law.
H. William Burgess, a local attorney who filed legal papers with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the plaintiff in the case, said yesterday, "Wow. The settlement was much larger than I thought."
Burgess said he still believes the case should have been heard by the Supreme Court so that legal questions surrounding the school's Hawaiians-first admissions policy were settled.
"I actually think the trustees of the Kamehameha Schools have a legal duty, when there's a legitimate legal question about what they're doing, to seek a resolution of the issue," Burgess said.
News of the $7 million payment provoked more than 500 online postings to The Advertiser that variously criticized school officials who approved the payment and the lawyers and the client who received the money.
Beatrice "Beadie" Dawson, a native Hawaiian attorney who is active in Kamehameha Schools affairs, said yesterday the settlement itself and now news of the $7 million amount "are like an open invitation for more lawsuits."
"I was very dismayed by news of the settlement last year and I was very surprised by the size of it today," Dawson said.
Hawai'i attorney David Rosen, who last year announced plans to file another legal challenge to the school's admission policy, confirmed this week that the lawsuit is taking shape but has not been filed.
He issued a news release yesterday reacting to the settlement amount that said, "The people of Hawai'i should be outraged that the trustees of Kamehameha Schools place a higher value on discriminating rather than educating."
Goemans, the lawyer who publicly revealed the $7 million figure, said he believes the settlement should be a matter of public record given Kamehameha Schools' status as a tax-exempt charitable institution.
Goemans helped bring the civil rights lawsuit against Kamehameha in 2003 on behalf of a non-Hawaiian student denied admission to the high school. The student and the student's mother, who live on the Big Island, have never been identified except as John Doe and Jane Doe.
Goemans also said the settlement is subject to review by the Internal Revenue Service and by the state attorney general's office, which oversees Kamehameha Schools' annual financial accountings filed with state Probate Court.
Attorney General Mark Bennett could not be reached for comment yesterday.
David Fairbanks, a Honolulu lawyer serving as the appointed "master" who must review Kamehameha's financial fillings for the Probate Court, did not respond to a telephone message for comment yesterday.
Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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February 9, 2008
$7M
An attorney involved in a challenge to Kamehameha Schools' Hawaiians-only policy reveals the amount of a settlement
By Ken Kobayashi, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Kamehameha Schools made the first move to settle a legal challenge to their admissions policy giving preference to native Hawaiians and later agreed to pay $7 million, a lawyer involved in the case said yesterday.
John Goemans, an attorney for an unnamed non-native Hawaiian student who filed a lawsuit contesting the policy, said the charitable trust offered for the first time to talk about an out-of-court settlement last May, just days before the U.S. Supreme Court was to decide whether to hear the case.
Goemans, a former Big Island attorney recuperating in Florida from heart surgery, and Sacramento, Calif., lawyer Eric Grant, the lead attorney, represented the unnamed student and his mother.
"They (the schools) approached Eric and said we wanted to settle and we have to settle by Friday morning," when it was believed the high court was to make a decision about accepting the case, Goemans said.
He said it appeared the high court would accept their appeal of an 8-7 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the policy.
"They (the schools) were worried about losing in the Supreme Court," Goemans said.
Goemans said he did not know how Grant and the Kamehameha Schools arrived at the $7 million figure.
The hotly disputed federal civil rights lawsuit caused a firestorm of controversy among Kamehameha Schools supporters who believed the challenge struck at the more than century-old admissions policy and the heart of the charitable trust's mission to educate children of Hawaiian ancestry.
The confidential settlement was announced on May 14. Those connected with the case repeatedly refused to disclose the terms.
Goemans said he was disclosing the amount because he said he recently learned from Internal Revenue Service officials that Kamehameha Schools, a tax-exempt charitable trust, cannot keep the figure confidential.
"Because exempt organizations operate in the public good, you got to report all your expenses with particularity, and you cannot keep information relative to those expenses confidential," he said. "It's in the public interest to have full disclosure."
Ann Botticelli, Kamehameha Schools spokeswoman, said yesterday the settlement contained a confidentiality clause.
"We intend to honor the terms, and we will not be discussing the settlement or John Goemans' assertions," she said.
Grant said yesterday he had no comment.
Kamehameha Schools, a multibillion-dollar charitable trust and the state's largest private landowner, was established under the 1883 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. It educates more than 6,700 students at its flagship campus at Kapalama Heights, two other campuses on Maui and the Big Island, and 31 preschools throughout the state.
Senior U.S. District Judge Alan Kay upheld the school's Hawaiians-first policy, but a panel of the appeals court in San Francisco ruled 2-1 that the practice violated federal civil rights laws. That decision triggered statewide protests and marches by school supporters.
Later, a larger appeals court panel voted 8-7 to uphold the policy.
It was an appeal by Grant of that 8-7 ruling that was on the doorsteps of the U.S. Supreme Court when the settlement was announced.
At the time, school officials indicated that the settlement calling for the dismissal of the lawsuit leaves intact the appeals court's 8-7 decision upholding the admissions policy.
But the dismissal does not guarantee that another lawsuit might surface and make its way to the high court, although it would first have to go through the federal trial and appeals courts, where the 8-7 ruling would be considered to be binding on the issue. But even if those who file the new lawsuit lose on those two levels, they could still ask the high court to review the case.
Honolulu attorney David Rosen said he has plaintiffs for a lawsuit to challenge the admissions policy. He said the settlement does not affect his case. Rosen said he expects the suit will be filed this year.
Goemans said Grant received 40 percent, or $2.8 million of the $7 million. Goemans said he is preparing to file his own lawsuit seeking to recover a "reasonable percentage" of the $7 million for his work in the case.
Goemans said he found the unnamed student and arranged for Grant to be the attorney for the student and his mother.
"I put the whole thing together," Goemans said. "But for me there would not have been a $7 million payment."
The student never was admitted to Kamehameha Schools because his case was pending. He has since graduated from high school and had been attending college, Grant said last year.
http://starbulletin.com/2008/02/09/news/story02.html
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February 9, 2008
Amount of settlement
raises critical concern
By Robert Shikina, rshikina@starbulletin.com
Supporters and critics expressed surprise yesterday at the $7 million Kamehameha Schools paid a student to settle a lawsuit disputing its Hawaiians-first admission policy.
One Kamehameha Schools alumnus says disclosure of the settlement with the anonymous, non-Hawaiian student will prompt questions among Hawaiians.
"I'm not happy with $7 million," said Kamehameha Schools alumnus Jan E. Hanohano Dill. "Unfortunately, that's a lot of money, and it's going to create a lot of questions in the Hawaiian community whether it was right or wrong and to continue."
Dill, also a board member of Na Pua a Ke Ali'i Pauahi, a nonprofit group whose members include students, parents, and alumni of Kamehameha Schools, said he continues to support the school's decision.
"I don't know the details, and I think that's something that has to be cleared," he said. "You settle because you want to avoid costs that would be incurred as you go forward."
He added, "I have to believe that they understood that this was something good for the Hawaiian people. ... It will be clear as things unfold whether that was true."
Dill, who is also president of the nonprofit Partners in Development Foundation, said the admissions policy must eventually be addressed and that the settlement avoids this case but does not stop other cases.
Marion Joy, former vice president of Na Pua, called the settlement a "misuse of trust funds."
"The trust is continually going to be challenged," she said. "This is not going to be the last. ... As far as settling for the particular lawsuit, it's not in the best interests of the beneficiaries (of the 1883 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop)."
Kamehameha Schools declined comment.
Honolulu attorney David Rosen, who has sought potential clients to sue Kamehameha over its admissions policy after the settlement, sent out a statement yesterday that said the $7 million settlement was used to "buy off this case."
He added that the trustees should open a campus on the Leeward Coast of Oahu and possibly Molokai where increased educational opportunities are needed.
H. William Burgess, a retired attorney and founder of Aloha for All, a group opposed to Hawaiian sovereignty, said the settlement raises questions about the proper use of the trust funds.
"Normally, trustees, if they're doubtful about doing something, they ask the court to give them instructions," he said. "Yet in this case, the biggest charitable trust, probably in the nation, instead of welcoming the opportunity to get the highest court in the land to settle it, they pay $7 million to leave it open. And it is very much open."
http://starbulletin.com/2008/02/09/news/story03.html
* * *
From The Catbird Seat website:
The Wise Old Owl asks: How much of the settlement amount came from Kamehameha’s insurance companies, and how much came from the trust funds? How much did Kamehameha Schools (and/or their insurance company) spend for defense costs in this case before they decided to settle? Who is their insurance company? Their insurance broker? Who actually signed the Settlement Agreement?
http://www.kycbs.net/Bishop7.htm
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NEW UPDATE 02/05/08:
July 3, 2005
Cemetery operator
faces criminal probe
'Wall' keeps criminal, civil probes separate
By Jim Dooley, Advertiser Staff Writer
The state Attorney General's office is conducting a criminal investigation of the purchase and operation of the RightStar group of funeral and cemetery companies in Hawai'i, according to state officials and private attorneys familiar with the investigation.
The criminal probe is separate from a civil lawsuit filed last year by the Attorney General's office that accuses RightStar officials and four local lawyers, including former Gov. John Waihee, of mismanaging more than $20 million in RightStar funds held in trust for thousands of Hawai'i customers who purchased "pre-need" funeral services and cemetery plots.
RightStar owns and operates four cemeteries: Valley of the Temples on O'ahu, Maui Memorial Park on the Valley Isle, and Homelani and Kona Memorial Parks on the Big Island.
The company purchased the cemeteries and related mortuary and funeral plan trust assets in 2001, and the state licensed RightStar to operate them in November 2001.
William McCorriston, attorney for Waihee and the other three lawyers who acted as trustees of the RightStar customers' trust funds, said he does not believe his clients are targets of the criminal investigation.
"We have informed the Attorney General of irregularities and delinquencies which had concerned us," McCorriston said. "We believe our information was the genesis of their investigation."
Waihee could not be reached for comment.
Attorneys for RightStar officials and Vestin Mortgage Inc., a Las Vegas-based lender that financed RightStar's purchase of the companies and filed a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit against RightStar for failure to repay $34 million in loans, said their clients have done nothing wrong. They said company officials are cooperating in the criminal and civil probes conducted by the Attorney General.
State Attorney General Mark Bennett and Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya confirmed the criminal investigation but would not elaborate on details of the case.
Legal quagmire
RightStar's financial problems have spawned a welter of lawsuits in state and federal court here, and involved the companies and its officials in at least one other ongoing criminal investigation, according to court records.
Most of the civil cases center on how the companies and trustees managed trust-fund assets.
The trust funds contain money from cemetery plot and funeral plan buyers that is supposed to be held in trust for the customers until they die. The funds also contain money set aside for "perpetual care" of the cemeteries.
According to state figures, the value of the trust funds stood at $63.2 million when RightStar took control of them. A year later, the value dropped to $40 million.
The foreclosure lawsuit filed by Vestin Mortgage claims that RightStar defaulted on loans that were used to purchase the companies. A state judge handling that case has appointed an independent receiver, Guido Giacometti, to run the cemeteries and funeral businesses and protect the rights of customers while the competing claims from numerous parties are sorted out.
In his two most recent monthly reports filed with the court, Giacometti said the companies have a "critical need" for additional money and are attempting to develop new cemetery plots and sell new funeral plans to increase cash flow.
"We're doing OK — sales volumes are relatively consistent," Giacometti said. "We'd like them to be higher but we inherited a company that had not reinvested in itself. There are a limited number of cemetery plots available, so we're working toward development of future areas."
Consumers caught
Local resident John Quinores bought four burial plots for himself and his family at Valley of the Temples in the 1960s and said he's worried about his investment. After agreeing to buy the cemetery plots, Quinores later supplemented that purchase with "pre-need" plans designed to provide funeral services when he dies.
"I'm still paying," Quinores said. "I called the company a couple of months ago with some questions but the lady that answered was vague and defensive."
Giacometti said he has made customer service a top priority and also is dealing with a variety of other pressing issues, including satisfying a dozen consumer complaints filed with the state Regulated Industries Complaints Office. Also unresolved are numerous other complaints about RightStar's decision last year to sell burial plots and funeral services contracts at a discount to a company called Alternative Debt Portfolios.
That sale was an effort by previous RightStar management to raise funds, Giacometti said.
"About 2,100 cemetery plot contracts were sold, but some of the contracts had already been paid in full and should not have been included in the deal," Giacometti said. "There are also some questions about who is responsible for the funeral services that are included in some of the other contracts."
Giacometti said he's cooperating in state and federal tax investigations of RightStar as well as a separate FBI investigation of Funding Solutions Inc., a company in Stamford, Conn., to which RightStar turned for financial assistance in 2004.
RightStar "made a $250,000 payment to them in return for a loan commitment, but then never got the loan," Giacometti said.
When Giacometti asked the company for a refund, "we ran right into an FBI investigation," he said. "They are investigating Funding Solutions and principals of the company and we are cooperating in that investigation."
According to federal court records, Funding Solutions executives Leonard Kalish and Joel Pondelik were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's office in New York City in January.
A call to the company for comment was returned by Kalish's New York attorney, Martin Adelman, who said only that Kalish "will answer any and all official inquiries (about RightStar) when they are made."
A right to foreclose
Hawai'i Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna ruled last month and again Friday that Vestin had the right to foreclose on RightStar, with the companies to be sold "to a licensed and qualified buyer" who would protect "the interests of consumers."
Attorney Grant Kidani, attorney for Alternative Debt Portfolios, had asked McKenna to delay foreclosure proceedings for 120 days, arguing that documents filed in another RightStar-related lawsuit, now pending in federal court here, showed both Vestin and RightStar had "unclean hands." Their relationship should be examined more closely before foreclosure takes place, he said.
The other federal court suit, first filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and now pending before Hawai'i Federal Judge Helen Gillmor, alleges that Waihee and three other local attorneys who acted as RightStar funeral plan trustees were part of a fraudulent conspiracy to "strip the assets" of RightStar.
The suit was filed against RightStar by Alderwoods (Hawai'i) Inc., which purchased the assets of the cemetery and mortuary business in a Delaware bankruptcy court sale and then resold it to RightStar in 2001.
Charges in the suit are based in part on allegations from David Jackson, a former financial controller of RightStar Hawaii Management, who charged that Waihee used his "political influence" to smooth the company's dealings with state regulators.
McCorriston, Waihee's attorney, said Jackson's allegations "are part of an effort to besmirch Waihee's and the other trustees' reputations. RightStar has gone belly-up, so instead they're pointing their guns at the trustees."
Candace Ito, executive officer of the state Cemetery and Funeral Trusts Program, also denied Jackson's allegations, saying that "RightStar did not receive any special treatment" from the state.
RightStar President John Dooley said Waihee "did nothing improper while representing the company in the licensing process. He used his abilities to assist a private business attain licensing in the state of Hawai'i in much the same way that other former governors have assisted businesses in the past."
RightStar attorney James Wagner added, "Jackson is a disgruntled former employee who was fired for incompetence."
Attempts to reach attorneys for Jackson and Alderwoods were unsuccessful.
Transfers questioned
The state has charged in its civil suit against RightStar that the company and the former trustees improperly removed about $20 million in trust fund assets in 2002, transferring the money to RightStar's operational accounts. The state said the transfers should only have been made after a full accounting of the finances of the cemeteries and trust funds had been completed and filed with the state. Such financial statements have yet to be filed by RightStar, according to court records.
The Attorney General's suit also charged that the trustees removed another $20 million in trust fund assets and improperly invested the money in a Nevada real estate venture called Vestin Fund II. That fund is managed by Vestin Mortgage, the same company that financed RightStar's purchase of the cemeteries and trust funds in the first place.
An independent expert, John Candon, has been appointed by the court in the Attorney General's civil lawsuit to examine the finances and activities of RightStar and the trust funds and to make sure the money is properly accounted for and protected.
Last year, the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission revealed that it was investigating Vestin Fund II. Vestin called the SEC probe an "informal inquiry" that appears to focus on its financial reporting to the SEC.
Vestin attorney Paul Alston said the investment has yielded a return of 9 percent interest per year and is probably one of the best investments the trustees made."
And Alston said at least some of the blame for RightStar's problems belongs with the state. "It appears that the trusts were mishandled under the state's proverbial nose, and it is only because of Vestin's complaints ... that the state has stirred to action," Alston said in a letter to Judge McKenna.
In late May, state Deputy Attorney General James Paige said in a letter to Judge McKenna that the state had attempted unsuccessfully to recover $20 million in RightStar trust money from Vestin Fund II.
Under the terms of the investment, Paige said, the fund can give back no more than 10 percent of an investment per year. At that rate, the consumer trust funds that the state wants back will not be fully recovered "until approximately the year 2015," Paige wrote.
Class-action suit filed
Last week, a class-action lawsuit was added to the legal woes besetting RightStar. One plaintiff in the suit, Yahnina Hackney, repeated claims reported earlier by The Advertiser that RightStar improperly canceled her stepmother's funeral services contract after the elderly woman became sick and failed to make monthly payments to the company.
The company said in response that the cancellation was made by previous owners of the company and some of the disputed funds are still being held in trust.
Hackney said when her stepmother died, there was no money to pay for her burial. "I had to ask the state to do it," she said. "It was very sad. She was cremated. She didn't want that. I have her ashes at home."
She said she "would like to see everybody wake up and take a look at this issue. It's very important and it's something we all will have to face."
Reach Jim Dooley at 535-2447 or jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
www.kycbs.net/EXHIBIT-Dooley-HA-7-3-5.htm
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July 3, 2005
'Wall' keeps criminal,
civil probes separate
By Jim Dooley, Advertiser Staff Writer
The Attorney General's office must keep its civil and criminal probes of RightStar separate and has taken steps to prevent any collaboration between the lawyers and staffers involved in two cases, attorneys said.
The separation is important because it is improper to use the threat of criminal action to advance a civil case, or vice versa.
Similar ethical barriers, informally called "Chinese walls," were erected inside the Attorney General's office when simultaneous civil and criminal investigations were conducted in the late 1990s of the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate trustees and their management of the estate.
In fact, two lawsuits are still pending in state courts here — filed by former Bishop Estate trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong and his former brother-in-law, developer Jeffrey Stone — alleging that the Attorney General's office illegally used the separate civil and criminal probes as leverage to force Bishop trustees to resign.
Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya, who filed and later dropped criminal charges against Wong, Stone and former Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters, is a defendant in both pending suits. One filed by Wong was dismissed by a Circuit Court judge, but that ruling is now under appeal before the state Supreme Court. The other, filed by Stone last year, is scheduled to go to trial next year.
Attorney William McCorriston, who represents four former RightStar trustees named as defendants in the attorney general's civil lawsuit said, "There's always a concern in a 'Chinese wall' situation, because there's an inherent tension between civil and criminal proceedings conducted by the same office."
Another ethical issue arises because Attorney General Mark Bennett and First Deputy Attorney General Lisa Ginoza are former partners in the McCorriston law firm.
Bennett said last week he departed from the firm long before it became involved in the RightStar case and thus has no conflict of interest in overseeing his office's RightStar-related activities.
Ginoza left the McCorriston firm in January of this year to join Bennett's staff and "has recused herself from any involvement" in the current cases, Bennett said.
"It wasn't clear that recusal was necessary but it was decided it was best for her to play no role," Bennett said.
For more, GO TO > > > Vampires in the Cemetery
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NEW DISCOVERIES (02-04-08): Re: FURTHER EVIDENCE OF UNDISCLOSED, CONFLICTING PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TRUSTEE DAVID C. FARMER AND WITNESSES, FORMER GOVERNOR JOHN WAIHEE, GERARD JERVIS, NATHAN AIPA, AND BRUCE GRAHAM, ESQ, OF THE LAW FIRM OF ASHFORD & WRISTON:
http://www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Adler-Aipa-3-15-95.pdf
http://www.kycbs.net/EQ-Adler-Cartwright-4-14-95.pdf
http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/09/editorial/special.html
http://www.actec.org/private/freeform/page.asp?PageID=614
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August 27, 2005
Reservation for a Broken Trust?
Special from Hawaii Free Press
By Andrew Walden
The Aug. 25, 2005, announcement of an agreement between Gov. Linda Lingle and the Bush administration’s Department of Justice on four amendments to the Akaka Bill (S147) increases the chances of the Bill’s passage in the U.S. Senate and the House. Since no court in the history of the United States has ever overturned Congressional approval of a tribal group, there is cause to look ahead at the possible forms a Hawaiian "tribal" government could take.
U.S. history has precedent for two types of native organizations: Indian reservations and Alaskan native corporations. Alaskan native corporations are for-profit corporations owned and operated by the members of native Alaskan tribes as stockholders. Each member is an equal shareholder. They are subject to most of U.S. corporate law, but are able to protect the tribal benefits from race-discrimination lawsuit claims by providing benefits on the basis of tribal membership rather than race -- even when the two are indistinguishable.
Alaskan natives have been able to enjoy the profits coming from their corporate assets, thus increasing their economic status. Indian Reservations, on the other hand, operate often as a power unto themselves without state oversight and with very limited federal oversight. For that reason, poverty and corruption are the norm on many U.S. Indian reservations.
Contrary to popular opinion, Indian reservations have a history in Hawaii. An Oct. 12, 1999, article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin describes the efforts of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate (KSBE) trustees in 1995 to evade oversight of their corrupt doings. The Trustees’ self-serving investments caused losses of $264,090,257 in 1994 alone. To avoid scrutiny, they considered moving KSBE corporate headquarters out of Hawaii to the windswept plains of the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota (See http://www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Adler-Aipa-3-15-95.pdf and http://www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Adler-Cartwright-4-14-95.pdf )
In an apparent attempt to circumvent state and federal oversight, the Bishop Estate paid Washington D.C.-based (law firm) Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson and Hand more than $200,000 to look into moving the estate's legal domicile, or corporate address, to the mainland, sources said.
Verner Liipfert, whose local office is headed by former Gov. John Waihee, identified the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation as the top relocation prospect after reviewing the legislative, tax and judicial environments of 48 mainland states and Alaska.
The study was part of a broader effort by the former board members to lobby against federal legislation limiting trustee compensation and to convert the tax-exempt Bishop Estate to a for-profit corporation.
The KSBE trustees’ efforts are also described in "The Cheating of America" by Charles Lewis and Bill Allison of The Center for Public Integrity. They quote former Hawaii Attorney General Margery Bronster explaining KSBE’s actions: "Their main motivation was to avoid oversight from the State Attorney General and the IRS."
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin further points out:
Gregg Bourland, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribal council … said there is good reason for an entity like the Bishop Estate to make inquiries about changing its domicile to the South Dakota reservation ...
Since the 1800s, the Cheyenne River Sioux have had a government-to-government relationship with the United States which allows them to operate their own police force, court system and legislative functions.
Such a system may shield the trust from Hawaii Probate Court jurisdiction, although Bourland was unsure if the IRS would continue to oversee the trust.
Such a move would have also shielded Bishop Estate from the investigations that state Attorney General Margery Bronster was forced to launch as "Broken Trust" revelations emerged in the press. According to Lewis and Allison the activities Bishop Estate trustees were attempting to shield included:
Giving themselves significant pay raises, even while programs at the school were being cut;
Moving profits from the estate’s taxable subsidiaries back into the (non-profit) estate to lessen the subsidiaries’ tax burdens;
Investing in questionable ventures recommended by a trustee’s personal acquaintances, including an Internet directory of would-be-adult-film actors and casting agents;
Frequenting adult entertainment clubs and casinos using money from the charitable trust’s coffers, reportedly inviting state legislators on such trips; and
Lobbying Congress to defeat or alter legislation designed to give the IRS more authority to penalize their multi-million dollar compensation packages.
As U.S. District Judge Samuel King told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
"It's another indication of how arrogant, greedy and insensitive this whole bunch is ... Their claim that they are supporting Princess Pauahi's will is laughable."
While looking into a move to the Cheyenne River Reservation, KSBE trustees paid $900,000 for Verner, Liipfert to lobby Washington against the 1996 "Intermediate Sanctions Act" which, as Lewis and Allison explain:
...(would impose) an excise tax on "insiders" at non-profit organizations who partake in "excessive benefit transactions" --exactly the sort of transactions that the Bishop Estate trustees were involved in for years.
Among those enlisted by the Bishop Estate was former Hawaii governor John Waihee, who after leaving the gubernatorial mansion joined Verner, Liipfert. Waihee met with Clinton’s then deputy chief of staff, Erskine Bowles, in late 1995 to discuss the bill; he and his wife have also spent the night at the White House as a guest of the President (Clinton). Waihee’s partner at Verner Liipfert, former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, also contacted Clinton’s then chief of staff, Leon Panetta, about the bill.
The Akaka Bill is justified by its supporters as necessary for the defense of public and private native Hawaiian entitlement programs set up beginning with the 1884 founding of the Bishop Estate, continuing with the 1920 Hawaiian Homelands Act and the 1978 creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
These programs are thrown into question by what Hawaiian leaders refer to as "the lawsuits" -- starting with Rice v. Cayetano. The Feb. 23, 2000, U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Rice v Cayetano case ended Hawaiian-only elections for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). Rice’s attorney at the time of filing in 1996 was John Goemans, a former Hawaii Democratic state legislator who describes himself as a "left wing liberal" in an Oct. 27, 2003, interview with The Honolulu Advertiser. Representing the state of Hawaii before the U.S. Supreme Court was John Roberts. Roberts is now President Bush’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.
But these were not the only attacks on Hawaiian entitlements in the 1990s. In fact what Hawaiian leaders refer to as "the lawsuits" began almost exactly at the same time as the Broken Trust scandal revelations emerged. Lokelani Lindsey, the last of the five "Broken Trust" Bishop Estate trustees, was forced to resign Dec. 16, 1999. A few months later, in 2000, the first version of the bill that bears his name was introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka.
Passage of the Akaka Bill would open up debate and negotiations on the form and scope of a new Hawaiian government. This could bring lobbying for an Indian Reservation by those political forces wishing to restart their looting of Princess Bernice Pauahi’s legacy.
The corrupt forces who believe in moderation to avoid detection may favor the Alaskan Native Corporation model. To understand the danger posed by adoption of the Indian Reservation model, consider this: over 100 Hawaii Democrat politicians (and one Republican) have been charged, convicted and sentenced for campaign spending violations and other illegal political schemes since 1997.
Current OHA trustees include OHA Vice President, John Waihee IV, son of former governor John Waihee III.
Another current OHA trustee is Oswald Stender who resigned as a Bishop Estate trustee in 1999. Singled out for praise by the five authors of the key "Broken Trust" Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, Stender nonetheless was one of the five trustees whose high pay forced the IRS to threaten to revoke non-profit status for KSBE.
OHA Chief Counsel, Robert Klein was an associate justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court until he resigned on Feb. 1, 2000. He authored the PASH decision in 1995 which includes the statement, "western understandings of property law … are not universally applicable in Hawaii." An editorial in the Jan. 19, 2000, Honolulu Star-Bulletin explains:
Klein’s most notable act as a Supreme Court justice may have been his authorship of a decision allowing native Hawaiians to go onto private property to engage in traditional religious, cultural and gathering practices ...
Klein disagreed with the decision by the other four justices in December 1997 to withdraw from the role of appointing trustees for the Bishop Estate, calling it an "uncharted leap of blind faith."
Klein admits giving "recommendations" for Kamehameha School admission while serving on the Supreme Court bench. As an April 3, 2001, Honolulu Star-Bulletin article explains:
'''In sworn testimony, the (Bishop) estate's admissions director, Wayne Chang, said that former (Bishop Estate) trustee Lokelani Lindsey ordered him to admit the child only after she received a request from then-state Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Klein ..."
Chang -- in a Aug. 11, 1998, deposition taken in preparation for the trial to oust Lindsey -- said ex-board members Lindsey, Gerard Jervis and Henry Peters and senior school officials pulled strings for friends and relatives of several politically connected isle families, including:
A distant relative of ex-Gov. John Waihee.
A relative of Big Island rancher Larry Mehau.
Former state Sen. Milton Holt's sons.
The former trustees denied that they influenced the admission process. However, investigations by the Internal Revenue Service, the Attorney General's Office and the estate's internal auditors concluded that trust officials improperly influenced the Kamehameha Schools' admissions and financial aid awards.
Lindsey declined comment, but Klein confirmed that he spoke with the former trustee after the child's mother, a longtime friend, asked him to put in a good word. Klein said he saw no conflict in the request and added that school administrators were welcome to ignore his recommendation.
'''"The fact of the matter is, judges recommend children and people for jobs (and schools) all the time, whether it's Punahou Schools or Kamehameha Schools," said Klein, who is now in private practice. "That's what judges do. That's what people do in this community ..."
Those kind of "doings" would be facilitated by lack of state and federal legal oversight -- such as on an Indian reservation. Recent debate over the support for ANWR drilling by Hawaii Senators Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye is a further reflection of opposition to the Alaskan Native Corporations (ANCs). In an April 20, 2005, article published in Honolulu Weekly and later in the Hawaii Island Journal, Lance Holter, the Maui Group Chairman and Conservation Chair for the Hawaii Sierra Club, condemns as "corporate" those ANCs which dare to support oil drilling on their own lands:
[Inouye] speaks about these 229 tribes, which are really corporate entities. They are not tribal governments; they are not representative of the tribe.
Robin and Jade Danner are leaders of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CANH). Native Hawaiians who lived for many years in Barrow, Alaska before their return to Kauai, the Danner sisters have extensive experience with ANCs. They might reasonably be expected to champion the formation of one or more Hawaiian Native Corporations modeled on the Alaskan natives’ experience. Opposing the Danners publicly, are the secessionists calling for reestablishment of an independent Hawaii. A key series of 2003 articles attacking the Danners are authored by Anne Keala Kelly and reproduced on several secessionist Web sites. They are attacked for working with "corporate" ANCs and oil lobbyists in support of ANWR drilling. Kelly, a supporter of independence, spoke in Honolulu at an Aug. 23, 2005, Akaka Bill forum held in the Japanese Cultural Center.
Some Indian reservations (including Cheyenne River) have their own judiciary, legislature, and executive branches of government. The secessionists’ rhetoric could lead them to prefer these "sovereign" trappings. They claim the Akaka process represents a surrender of sovereignty on the part of the Hawaiian people. This sly choice of argument against Akaka will create a justification for participation in the Akaka process once that sovereignty has been "surrendered."
The "Nation of Hawaii" group led by convicted felon Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele (who was pardoned by former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano) seems to be preparing for integration into the "official" Hawaiian institutions. One sign of this are the December 2004 speeches given by Kanahele’s attorney Francis Boyle in a series of "Nation of Hawaii" meetings across the state. The events were funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Boyle is a University of Illinois law professor who also works for the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Bosnian Government, and Chechen forces led by the recently departed Aslan Maskhadov. Notably, Boyle has also represented the Lakota Nation of the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. At a 1998 UH Hilo meeting, Boyle spoke alongside a Lakota representative to Hawaiian sovereignty activists discussing "human rights, land titles and the Hawaiian Kingdom."
In his December 2004 speeches, Boyle advised the assembled crowds: "what we really need now is a government of national unity for the Kingdom of Hawaii. We need all the disparate groups and factions to come together and settle ... this was the situation that confronted the Palestinians 35 years ago. There were many different groups, and organizations, and factions. And yet eventually the late president Arafat and his organization Fatah were able to pull them all together, and by the process of consensus and debate and argument and set up a government."
The demented idea that the West Bank and Gaza show a way forward for the Hawaiian people is so distracting that it may prevent readers from noting what underlies: an implied appeal for independence activists to involve themselves in OHA and other official Hawaiian bodies. The array of social programs administered by OHA, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the private trusts such a KSBE are certainly the closest thing to an Hawaiian "government of national unity" existing today.
With its own judiciary, legislature and executive branch and government-to-government relations with the U.S. government, the Indian reservation model provided by the Cheyenne River Sioux creates enough of an illusion of independence that they could justify it to their supporters. If the Akaka Bill passes, Hawaii can look forward to an effort on the part of the "sovereignty" activists and the corrupt to push this model.
Anyone following the stories of Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart, and other corporate disasters in the recent news knows that organizing as a corporation does not guarantee clean operations. But the corporate model does allow oversight by the state Attorney General, the IRS and other public agencies. This type of oversight brought these scandals to light and brought some malefactors to justice. This same oversight brought the Broken Trust trustees of KSBE and some of their cronies to heel, if only for them to then scatter and form new schemes. The Alaskan Native Corporation model maximizes the protection given Hawaiian beneficiaries and the body politic of Hawaii by increasing the enforcement power necessary to expose and prosecute corrupt activities.
Hnolulu Star-Bulletin on Akaka Amendments:
http://starbulletin.com/2005/08/24/news/index5.html
Recognition of Tribes:
http://www.tribalnation.com/RescindStatus.html
PASH Decision: PASH decision KSBE activities:
http://www.the-catbird-seat.net/Bishop.htm
(Note: This website was closed down by Order of Judge David Ezra at the request of the United States Department of Justice. It can now be found at http://www.kycbs.net/Bishop.htm. See http://www.kycbs.net/Confessions.htm for more information.)
Honolulu Star-Bulletin "Broken Trust" archive:
http://starbulletin.com/specials/bishop.html
Articles attacking the Danners:
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaAlaskaKelly.html
Boyle’s PLO Speech:
http://hawaii-nation.org/boyle-transcript-2004.html
Andrew Walden is the publisher and editor of Hawaii Free Press, a Big Island-based newspaper. He can be reached via email at mailto:andrewwalden@email.com
HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com
www.kycbs.net/Reservation-Broken-Trust-Walden-8-27-5.mht
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (01-21-08) - Undisclosed relationships between David Farmer and Kamehameha Schools through the law firm of Ashford & Wriston:
March 3, 2006
LEGACY BETRAYED
WHAT WENT WRONG AND WHY
Honolulu Star-Bulletin Editorial
EXCERPTS: CHAPTER 20
Saying they want "healing and closure," the new trustees retain the legal team that failed the ousted trustees and decline to help the attorney general's office pursue the case for reimbursement.
Closure came quickly --
too quickly for some
THE FORMER trustees were gone, permanently, but the story was not over. Surely there would be serious consequences for the many individuals who had participated in the abuse of Princess Pauahi's trust, or who had witnessed it and done nothing to stop it. Trust law requires new trustees to hold former trustees (and their lawyers) accountable for harm done to a trust. Also, the new trustees had promised IRS officials a thorough "housecleaning." The only question was, just how thorough would it be?
In a 1998 court filing (Attorney General Margery) Bronster had asked the probate judge to appoint a single full-time, highly qualified administrator to run the Bishop Estate organization until all the legal issues could be sorted out in court. Judge (Kevin) Chang declined to take that approach in May 1999 when he emptied the boardroom at the Internal Revenue Service's behest. He chose instead to upgrade the five special-purpose trustees to "interim trustee" status, and left it to them to figure out how to run Bishop Estate. ...
THE MANAGEMENT and accounting systems were virtually dysfunctional. It was essential that the interim trustees hire the right kind of people to deal effectively with the many educational, business and legal issues that had accumulated during the years of abuse, controversy and turmoil. Saying that this required "a good law firm," the interim trustees retained Watanabe, Ing and Kawashima, a politically akamai firm -- Douglas Ing was one of its senior partners. The interim trustees also retained Bruce Graham and Michael Hare and their firms -- lawyers who had served the former trustees for more than a decade. That was the legal team.
To run the organization the interim trustees chose Nathan Aipa, explaining that "he knew where things were." Because Aipa had been the trust's chief in-house lawyer since 1986, he probably did have a lot of inside information. Under the circumstances, however, that hardly seemed like a good reason to promote him to the top executive position in the organization. The former trustees had literally set a world record for trust abuse on Aipa's watch. He may have been actively involved. In the 5701s, the IRS likened him to "a sixth trustee." Now, rather than being forced to resign like the five actual trustees, the "sixth trustee" was at the helm of the multibillion-dollar Bishop Estate. That gave him control over the flow of information to and from this brand-new board of part-time trustees.
To fill Aipa's old position, the interim trustees chose Colleen Wong, who had been Aipa's right-hand person for the last ten years. There had been no housecleaning; instead, the old guard had been put in charge and handed the keys.
ALL THIS shocked Dorothy Sellers, Hugh Jones and Daniel Morris, deputy attorneys general who had worked for the past two years on cleaning up the mess at Bishop Estate. They immediately contacted the interim trustees and explained that the lawyers who served the former trustees had either provided flawed legal advice or stood by silently -- and illegally -- as the trustees ignored good advice.
The deputies also explained that the former trustees were sure to defend any legal action against them by arguing that they had just followed their lawyers' advice. This meant that those lawyers -- the ones the interim trustees had just rehired and put in charge of the entire organization -- had a very strong personal incentive to prevent any finding of serious misconduct by the former trustees. They added that a lawyer such as Ing, who had recently represented a now-former trustee, should not be advising the interim trustees on their duty to pursue claims against former trustees, which included Ing's former client, Oswald Stender. The deputies explained that Ing had a classic conflict of interest, which might tempt him to try to protect his former client, even at the expense of the trust. The interim trustees listened and then essentially told the deputies to mind their own business.
IT WAS IRONIC, said the deputy attorneys general, that dealing with the interim trustees did not feel different from what they had experienced before: The former trustees had received legal guidance from Bruce Graham, Michael Hare, Nathan Aipa and Colleen Wong, and now, despite years of trust abuse, legal wrangling, emotional turmoil, and the complete change of trustees, the interim trustees were relying on these same four lawyers, plus Douglas Ing. ...
Legal tactics that the deputies described as "stonewalling" went on unabated. ...
Not long after taking control of Bishop Estate, the interim trustees announced their intention not to assist in efforts to surcharge the former trustees, a decision that appalled the deputy attorneys general. Lawyers for the interim trustees had advised their clients that any form of cooperation with the attorney general's office on this matter would jeopardize $75 million of insurance coverage: Insurance policies purchased by the former trustees essentially said that the companies did not have to pay any claim in which one policyholder sued, or assisted in a lawsuit against, another policyholder. This arguably included a present trustee suing, or assisting in a lawsuit against, a former trustee.
Such a contract provision, however, violated public policy, making it unenforceable. Trust law does not allow former trustees to tie the hands of their successor trustees like that. If asked, the court would have declared invalid that provision of the contract -- but the interim trustees did not ask any court to do that. Instead, they treated this convenient but illegal contract provision as clearly enforceable. Reminded of their fiduciary duty to hold their predecessors accountable for harm done to the trust, the interim trustees responded that they had no interest in "seeking retribution." They said it was time to "look forward, not backward."
IN MAY 2000 a new master, Robert Richards, reported on legal fees that the former trustees paid out of trust funds during their last eight months on the job. Richards concluded that the former trustees should be required to repay $5 million of the total amount to Kamehameha Schools, and that some of the law firms that had received trust funds should be required to return all or part of the money to Kamehameha Schools.
Richards, a no-nonsense litigator who had played professional football before going to law school, did not spare the feelings of his fellow lawyers. ... (For example,) Richards criticized Bruce Graham's firm, Ashford and Wriston, for not seeing that there were "hopeless conflicts related to trustee misconduct."
Regarding the work done by Bill McCorriston's firm, McCorriston Miho Miller and Mukai, Richards reached what he called "certain inescapable conclusions:" "The most critical is that this was a defense of the trustees, not of the trust. There were monumental efforts made to keep trustee conduct from coming to light or, if it did come to light, to rationalize it." Richards was equally critical of Cades Schutte Fleming and Wright. ...
INSTEAD of following Richards' recommendations, the interim trustees listened to their own lawyers' advice, which was to hire two large mainland firms, Philadelphia-based Morgan Lewis and Bockius and Washington, D.C.-based Miller and Chevalier, plus law professors John Langbein from Yale and John Leubsdorf from Rutgers. For fees totaling $1 million, this team prepared a follow-up report that -- unlike the Richards report -- was somewhat sympathetic to the former trustees' lawyers, essentially concluding that most of them were skilled advocates who had just followed their clients' instructions. This follow-up report included practical advice:
"In considering whether to file a claim, the Trustees will want to consider both the cost of prosecuting such an action as well as the length of time such a proceeding might take. The Trustees will also want to consider the impact on Kamehameha Schools of negative publicity and controversy that would accompany prolonged litigation -- precisely the type of controversy that Kamehameha Schools has worked so hard over the last 18 months to put behind it."
Deputy Attorney General Sellers could hardly believe what was happening. She pointed out that Miller and Chevalier as well as Professor Langbein had themselves rendered significant legal services for the former trustees, so the study was "not independent." It was also "self-serving," according to Sellers, because the interim trustees were currently paying the Cades firm to do what the former trustees had previously paid that firm to do: "hinder the attorney general."
THE INTERIM trustees did not respond to Sellers' accusations. Instead, they announced that they would not be suing any of the former trustees' lawyers or seeking a refund of trust money paid to them for work that, according to the Richards report, did not benefit the trust.
Before copies of the $1 million follow-up report could be made and distributed, lawyers for the trust asked Judge Chang to place it under seal, which he did. Even lawyers from the attorney general's office, whose job it was to monitor all charitable trusts, were denied further access, for the sake of "closure."
http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/03/editorial/special.html
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (01-21-08) - Undisclosed relationships between David Farmer and Kamehameha Schools through the law firm of Ashford & Wriston:
January 24, 2001
Kamehameha
managers shuffled
in shake-up
An estate spokesman says
the changes are the result of
the trust's strategic plan
By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin
Kamehameha Schools' senior management team has undergone a major shake-up.
Rodney Park, former head of the $6 billion charitable trust's administration group, left Dec. 31 after his $160,000-a-year position was eliminated.
Attorney Nathan Aipa recently lost his title as the acting chief operating officer but will remain at the estate in a lesser capacity.
Aipa, who had earned as much as $190,000 a year, had been on paid leave since last May but returned to work earlier this month.
Estate spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said the management changes are largely the result of the estate's strategic plan, which was completed last year.
Paulsen said the estate eliminated Park's position when it merged its administration and operations departments. The new department is headed on an interim basis by retired Gen. Dwight Kealoha, who is the acting chief administrative officer, Paulsen said.
Paulsen noted that the trust has made a number of significant management changes since last year due to the new strategic plan.
Rockne Freitas, former vice president for the trust's education group, and Yukio Takemoto, former state budget director who previously headed the Kamehameha School's office of budget and review, were reassigned several months ago to new positions.
Takemoto is now director of the Kamehameha Schools' facilities development and support division; Freitas is executive director of the Ke Alii Pauahi Scholarship Fund.
Park, Aipa, Takemoto and Freitas were among the trust's top executives during the recent three-year legal battle involving the Kamehameha Schools. Critics have linked the managers with embattled former trustees Henry Peters, Richard "Dickie" Wong and Lokelani Lindsey, who were ousted in 1999.
The trust's current senior managers team includes chief executive officer Hamilton McCubbin, chief legal officer Colleen Wong and chief investment officer Wendell Brooks. Eric Yeaman is chief financial officer and Michael Chun is acting chief educational officer. Park, who had worked at the estate since 1985 and served as head of administration since 1994, could not be reached for comment.
Aipa, meanwhile, has reapplied for a new job at the estate.
The estate's general counsel between 1986 and 1999, Aipa took a voluntary paid leave of absence in May after a report by Robert Richards, the court-appointed special master, charged that several of the trust's outside attorneys conducted questionable legal work and attempted to intimidate critics of the former trustees.
The report prompted the estate to terminate many of its outside law firms, although several firms have since been rehired following a lengthy internal investigation. Aipa supervised the outside law firms' legal work.
The recent shake-up coincides with the completion of an internal investigation into the conduct of the estate's senior managers. Paulsen declined to discuss the report's findings, saying it involves personnel matters.
Kamehameha Schools Strategic Plan
http://starbulletin.com/2001/01/24/news/story2.html
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (01-12-07) - Re: Undisclosed relationships between Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii Nature Conservancy, Judith Neustadter Fuqua, Oprah Winfrey, Peter Young, Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources, Hawaiian Home Lands, etc.
For details, see: Blue Gold in Blue Hawaii; Hawaii Nature Conservancy
~ ~ ~
New Discovery (11-17-07): Re: EQUITY No. 2048 - EXHIBITS RE DEPOSITIONS OF MARION MAE LINDSEY:
These documents, consisting of hundreds of pages, provide clear and material evidence of the many financial, professional, and political relationships between David Farmer, Bruce Graham and the Ashford & Wriston law firm, with the former and interim Trustees of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Nathan Aipa, Governor John Waihee, and others. These Exhibits can be found on the internet at the Broken Trust Book website, under the heading, “Lindsey Deposition (3 volumes)”:
http://www.brokentrustbook.com/sources.html#depositions
~ ~ ~
http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/03/editorial/special.html
~ ~ ~
From www.brokentrustbook.com:
Latest Developments as of May 12, 2007
"Almost certainly Hawai‘i’s book of the year" ... Click here for bestseller lists, and here for reviews.
This Week's Quote*:
"I just finished reading 'Broken Trust' and it is brilliant! I could not put it down. For every question I had, there was an answer in the book. It is clear, concise, historic, and hugely entertaining. This should be required reading for everyone, especially students. I am also dismayed and discouraged that, in so many ways, nothing changed.
Maybe I am naive, but it makes me angry that the still sitting judiciary is responsible not only for the debacle, but the perpetuation of the same skewed selection process. They have no shame, no remorse, no ethical or moral sense to make a change that is so obvious, only justification of their own behavior. That the 'interim trustees', despite the IRS mandates, public outcry, legal cases, etc, kept the BE staff attorneys on the payroll completely boggles my mind.
Thank you for having the courage and the sheer grit to write this book. Without this record, I have no doubt the players would continue minimizing the truth and erasing history to excuse actions that are truly inexcusable."
-Kathi Thomason, Accountant
~ ~ ~
Latest Developments as of February 19, 2007
This Week's Quote:
"I loved this book! Not only is the story amazing, and well-researched, but it is so well told. It was like reading a thriller; I could not wait to find out what would happen next. Who would have thought that a book about a charitable trust could be so exciting? Some of the characters are truly unforgettable. I guess truth really is stranger than fiction. I am still shaking my head at the fiduciary breaches and the conflicts of interest."
-Professor Mary LaFrance, University of Nevada School of Law
Last Week's Quote:
"I write a monthly column for Morningstar on fiduciary investment issues so naturally I have a deep interest in ensuring that non-profits invest and spend their money prudently. Nonetheless, I was not too keen on reading a 300-page book on a Hawaiian charitable trust while on my vacation. Boy, was I wrong! Broken Trust reads like a political thriller with a whole assortment of characters straight out of a Tom Clancy novel and plot twists that are always unexpected. What's most amazing, though, is that it all happened in real life. I really enjoyed this book; it was hard to put down. A great read!"
-W. Scott Simon, author of The Prudent Investor Act: A Guide to Understanding (2002)
~ ~ ~
October 6, 2006
From www.brokentrustbook.com:
Lokelani Lindsey's Handwritten Notes from Trustee Meetings:
Number One Nonfiction Book in Hawaii for Past Six Months
~ ~ ~
Nathan Aipa is expected to testify as to his business, professional and personal relationships with Defendant, Kamehameha Schools, P&C Insurance Co., Gilbert Tam, William S. Richardson, Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo (fka Bambi Weil), Judge Kevin Chang, Judge Barry Kurren, Faye Kurren, Judge David Ezra, Judge Lloyd King, Judge Robert Faris, Howard Luke, Robert Kihune, Gilbert Tam, Nainoa Thompson, Elisa Yadao, Henry Peters, Richard Wong, Jeff Stone, Kevin Showe, Michael Chun, Rodney Park, Colleen Wong, Louanne Kam, Stacy Rezentes, Randall Chang, Christine Lee, Dan Jones, Lyn Anzai, Earl Anzai, Guido Giacometti, Susan Tius, Sukamto Sia, Robert Katz, Matt Tsukazaki, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mark McConaghy, McKenzie Methane, Marsh & McLennan, Rocco Sansone, Peter Lowe, Michael Morgan, John Mullen Company, Yukio Takemoto, Milton Holt, Calvin Say, Marshall Ige, Terrance Tom, Colbert Matsumoto, Benjamin Matsubara, Douglas Ing, Benjamin Kudo**, R. Brian Tsujimura, Judge Patrick Yim, Hamilton McCubbin, Richard Rainwater, Norman Brownstein, Mary Lou Woo, Steven Guttman, Judith Neustadter Fuqua, Kathleen Sullivan, James Nicholson, Todd Apo, Carol Muranaka, Bruce Bennett, Paul Alston, Theresa Lam, Judge Colleen Hirai, Judge Alan Kay, Judge Michael Town, Judge James Duffy, Judge Alan Kay, Judge Michael Seabright, WCI Communities, Nancy Graham, BlackRock, Inc, Elizabeth K. Lindsey Buyers, David C. Farmer, Governor John Waihee, Governor Ben Cayetano, Governor Linda Lingle, Ted Liu, Peter K. Hanashiro, Arthur Anderson, and others to be named upon discovery.
With respect to insurance coverages provided to KSBE and all related companies, Mr. Aipa is expected to provide for EACH claim that Harmon has made against KSBE and related entities, the following information: the name of the insurance carrier, their agent or broker, their address, policy number, policy period, claim number, and date claim made. He also is expected to provide the name and address of the licensed Claims Adjuster who was responsible for adjusting EACH of Harmon’s claims, including his Wrongful Termination and RICO lawsuits.
Mr. Aipa also expected to testify regarding alleged tax fraud, insurance fraud, bribes, kick-backs, bid-rigging, unfair claims practices and other illegal acts involving Marsh & McLennan, Federal Insurance Company (Chubb Group), Aon, and other insurance carriers and agents yet to be named. He is expected to testify regarding alleged violations of IRS regulations, illegal campaign contributions, obstruction of justice, witness intimidation, and other wrongful acts by former, interim and current trustees, directors, officers, employees and independent contractors for Kamehameha Schools, its subsidiaries and related companies, including P&C Insurance Company.
Internet References:
Chronologies
www.kycbs.net/BH-CHRON-88-96.htm
www.kycbs.net/BH-CHRON-97-99.htm
www.kycbs.net/BH-Settlement-Chronology.htm
Documents, News Articles and Related Links
www.hawaiianbar.org/nhba-leadership.html
http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/03/editorial/special.html
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Kihune-Deposition.pdf
www.kycbs.net/BH-Documents.htm
www.kycbs.net/IRS-Intermediate-Sanctions.pdf
www.kycbs.net/BH-CHRON-88-96.htm
www.kycbs.net/BH-CHRON-97-99.htm
www.kycbs.net/BH-Documents.htm
www.kycbs.net/DOCS-PC-Coopers-11-20-96.htm
www.kycbs.net/KSBE-INTERROGATORIES.htm
www.kycbs.net/KSBE-vs-BNH-Goemans-Free-Speech.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Kamehameha-Strategic-Plan.pdf
http://starbulletin.com/specials/bishop/yim.html
www.kycbs.net/Arthur-Andersen.htm
www.kycbs.net/Claims-By-Harmon.htm
www.kycbs.net/Claims-Branch-P-C.htm
www.kycbs.net/Claims-Branch-Kamehameha.htm
www.kycbs.net/Claims-Branch-Mullen.htm
www.kycbs.net/PunaConnection.htm
www.starbulletin.com/97/09/19/news/satnews.html
http://starbulletin.com/98/01/01/news/ten.html
www.starbulletin.com/98/11/26/news/
www.starbulletin.com/1999/05/10/news/story6.html
www.starbulletin.com/2000/04/22/news/story7.html
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-AG-Trustees-4-27-0.pdf
www.starbulletin.com/2000/05/24/news/story4.html
www.starbulletin.com/2000/07/03/news/story1.html
www.ksbe.edu/allpdfs/summer99/summer99.pdf *
www.starbulletin.com/2000/10/31/news/ **
www.starbulletin.com/2000/12/08/news/story7.html
www.starbulletin.com/2000/12/09/news/story3.html
www.starbulletin.com/2002/05/16/news/story4.html
www.kycbs.net/McCubbin-3-13-3.htm
http://starbulletin.com/specials/bishop/story2.html
IRS - PricewaterhouseCoopers, Arm’s Length and Intermediate Sanctions
www.kycbs.net/IRS-Intermediate-Sanctions.pdf
www.kycbs.net/IRS-11-10-97.htm
www.kycbs.net/KSBE-INTERROGATORIES.htm
http://starbulletin.com/98/11/03/news/story2.html
www.kycbs.net/AAA-IRS-10-10-0.htm
www.kycbs.net/Claim-IRS-3-28-5.htm
IRS - Closing Agreement for Kamehameha Schools
www.kycbs.net/KSBE-IRSagrmnt.pdf
www.kycbs.net/KSBE-IRSagrmnt2.pdf
Hawaii Dept. of Labor - CV 98-2394-05 - Unemployment Insurance Appeal
www.kycbs.net/DOL-Reply-Brief-11-6-98.htm
www.kycbs.net/DOL-Appeal-Append-A.pdf
RICO Lawsuit - 99-CV-00304-DAE-BMK
www.kycbs.net/RICO-Parties.pdf
www.kycbs.net/RICO-Attorneys.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Settlement-Page1-Signatures.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Settlement-Exhibit5-Filed-3-24-0.pdf
Equity 2048 -The Richards Report
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rroth/Richards%20Master%20Report.doc
XL Reinsurance Policy No. XLRKS-01796
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-PC-Policy-4-12-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-XL-Policy-Dec.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-XL-Policy.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-XL-Policy-Append.pdf
Equity 2048 - Related Correspondence and Documents
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-Mediation-Order-3-9-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Anzai-McCubbin-4-27-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-AG-Trustees-4-27-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Miyagi-AG-4-27-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-Seal-Docs-5-3-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-PC-Peters-5-5-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-AG-Witnesses-5-19-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-XL-Miyagi-AG-5-26-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/Doc-EQ2048-Form990-1998-pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-DiscoveryFees-5-30-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-AG-Objection-6-23-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Federal-Response-6-23-0.pdf
www.kycbs.net/EQ2048-Deposition-Notice-7-21-0.pdf
Apartheid, Hawaiian Style
www.kycbs.net/Apartheid-Hawaii.htm
Excerpts from “Broken Trust” by Samuel King and Randall Roth
www.kycbs.net/Broken-Trust-Book.htm
Excerpts from “Lost Generations” by J. Arthur Rath
www.kycbs.net/Lost-Generations.htm
KITV Special Report
www.thehawaiichannel.com/newsarchive/7510847/detail.html
TO GO TO THE WOO VS. HARMON WITNESS INDEX
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CHRONOLOGY
July 1, 2005: Originally posted on www.the-catbird-seat.net
March 13, 2007: Judge David Ezra signs Order to shut down website
April 14, 2010: Latest update on www.kycbs.net
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