U.S. Dept of Justice, David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Harmon

THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE

David C. Farmer, Successor Trustee
vs.
Bobby N. Harmon

(Formerly Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon and James Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE/KSC

United States District Court, District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

ALVIN AWAYA

Address to be determined.

From Hawaii Business Magazine:

Alvin Awaya

Age: N/A
Title: Trustee, Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Nickname: The Invisible Man

Power Surge: Land and money. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the legacy of the legendary financier and his wife, has both in spades. In 2003, the foundation was No. 7 on Hawaii Business' list of the wealthiest landowners, controlling 2,084 acres of land with a total assessed tax value of $831 million. In 2002, the foundation topped the list of the state's biggest givers, awarding grants totaling $20.7 million, almost twice the amount of the second-largest donor.

Power Play: Not only do Weinberg's money and holdings give Awaya plenty of muscle and prestige, the foundation's method of giving is as no-nonsense and straightforward as its namesake. In other words, decision making on where the money goes is largely unencumbered by bureaucratic B.S. and petty politicking. The money flows through Awaya.

Personal Voltage: None. Awaya avoids the media spotlight. However, the mystery surrounding Awaya only adds to his legend and, eventually, to his power.

Hawaii Business

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Weinberg's Legacy

The unassailable $2 billion Weinberg Foundation now wants $75 million of taxpayer money.

Ian Lind

May 22, 2002

A group of high-powered investors and developers marched into the governor’s office Monday, May 13, to press their case for $75 million in special-interest tax breaks for the Ko Olina resort. Two of the men in the group went unidentified in news accounts of the meeting.

The two were representatives of the deal’s landowner: the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, best known for its extensive program of charitable grants in Hawai‘i and across the Mainland. It might seem unusual for one of the nation’s largest charitable foundations to be pleading with the Aloha State’s governor for big tax breaks for resort development, but the Weinberg Foundation also happens to be a major Hawai‘i landowner with an increasingly active interest in development.

The foundation operates in a milieu of big money, few rules, insider dealings and little public information — a potentially dangerous mix of philanthropy and deal-making, all within the protective cover of its generous charitable program.

The tax-credit plan, which would finance an aquarium and science center and, in theory, deliver the investors for new hotel and time-share projects at the sprawling resort, is being attacked by critics (reportedly including the state Department of Taxation and the Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i) as a dangerously precedent-setting bailout for Ko Olina master developer Jeff Stone and his partners, who took control of the property in 1998. Cayetano has stated that he is considering a veto of the measure. He has until June 24 to decide.

For the record, the Weinberg Foundation’s two representatives at the Cayetano meeting included foundation president Bernard Siegel, who traveled to Honolulu from the foundation’s main office in Baltimore, and board vice president Alvin Awaya, who directs the foundation’s activities in Hawai‘i from an office in Kaimukï. Last year, the foundation purchased significant but undisclosed acreage at Ko Olina on which the aquarium — as well as other projects — is proposed to be built....

Honolulu Weekly

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Alvin Awaya is expected to testify regarding his business, professional, political and personal relationships with Linda Lingle, Judith Neustadter Fuqua, David Farmer, John Waihee, Ben Cayetano, Jeff Stone, Richard Wong, AIPAC, Goldman Sachs, Robert Rubin, Henry Paulson, The Nature Conservancy, Hawaii Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, The Hawaii Nature Center, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George Bush, and others to be named upon discovery.

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Awaya_Alvin_307904397.aspx