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

LOUISE ING

Louise Ing is a founding partner of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing; Director, American Savings Bank; stockholder in Aloha Airlines.

Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, Attorneys At Law
American Savings Bank Tower
1001 Bishop Street, 18^th Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813

Fax: 808-524-4591

Website: http://www.ahfi.com/

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From the Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing website:

AFFILIATIONS:

HAWAI`I STATE BAR ASSOCIATION

Bankruptcy Section

Labor & Employment Law Section (Vice chair, 2006)

Board of Directors (1994-1995; 2007-present)

Young Lawyers Division, Board of Directors (1984-1986)

Nominating Committee of the Hawai`i Supreme Court, member (2005)

HAWAI`I WOMEN'S LEGAL FOUNDATION

President (1992-1993)

Board of Directors (1986-1993)

SERVED ON VARIOUS UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT COMMITTEES TO RECOMMEND SELECTION OF BANKRUPTCY JUDGE, MAGISTRATE JUDGE, AND FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER; TO IMPLEMENT CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM ACT; TO REVIEW AND REVISE LOCAL CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES.

ALOHA AIRLINES, INC.

Board of Directors (1987-2006)

AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK, HONOLULU, HAWAI`I

Board of Directors (1994-present)

ISLAND HOLDINGS

Board of Directors (2002-present)

SUTTER HEALTH PACIFIC, DBA KAHI MOHALA HOSPITAL

Board of Governors (1998-present)

HAWAI`I MEDICAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION

Board of Directors (2003-present)

ASSETS SCHOOL

Board of Trustees (1994-2006)...

THE HAWAI`I COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Board of Governors (1994-1998)

THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I FOUNDATION

Board of Trustees (1995-2001, 2004-present)

Second Vice Chair (2000-2001)

ALOHA UNITED WAY

Board of Directors (1994-1998).

ADVISORY GROUP TO UNITED STATE DISTRICT COURT UNDER CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM ACT OF 1990

Member

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

Litigation Committee, Member (1990-1995)

HISTORIC HAWAI`I FOUNDATION

Board of Directors (1995-1997)

PLAZA CLUB

Board of Governors (2000-present)

Past Positions

Paul, Johnson, Alston & Hunt, Honolulu, HI

Shareholder (1986-1991)

Associate (1981-1986)

Carlsmith & Dwyer, Honolulu, HI

Associate (1980-1981)

The Honorable Samuel P. King, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai`i

Law Clerk (1978-1979)

http://www.ahfi.com/attorneys/louiseIng.shtm

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR LOUISE ING, ESQ.

* * * * *

NEW DISCOVERY (02-25-09): More factual evidence of fraud, bad faith, and undisclosed professional and financial conflicts of interest of Trustee David C. Farmer and Ron Sakamoto, Gerard Jervis, Kamehameha Schools, Hung Wo Ching, Louise Ing, Aloha Airlines, David Banmiller, Ron Burkle, Yucaipa, Bill Clinton, Judge Robert Faris, and others to be named upon discovery.

Aloha CEO Banmiller's statement to Bankruptcy Court

Editor's note: Here is the statement that David Banmiller, president and chief executive officer of Aloha Airlines, read to the federal Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday after the company's reorganization plan was confirmed by Judge Robert Faris:

THANK YOU, Your Honor, for allowing me this opportunity to address the court. If you perceive a softness in my tone, and perhaps a slip of the tongue here and there, it relates in part to a lack of sleep -- due in part to Your Honor's challenging words of yesterday. I must say, though, that sleep is overrated.

I will not take up much of the court's time, Your Honor, but the significance of this moment in the evolution of Aloha Airlines deserves comment.

In the 60-year history of this fine company, Aloha and its employees have never faced greater challenges: an industry in chaos, 50 percent of U.S. airlines in bankruptcy, unbridled competition, and oil at unprecedented levels.

The employees and local ownership of Aloha have continuously stepped forward, making contribution after contribution for its very survival. Had it not been for such efforts, we would not be standing before you today.

AS YOU KNOW, I am a relative newcomer and have been through a few "economic Vietnams" in this industry, but none as challenging, certainly sometimes frustrating, but on the whole no more satisfying than this experience, and I have enormous respect for everyone involved.

It is always risky to highlight certain individuals and situations in such a case, but I have chosen to take the risk because this accomplishment is all about teamwork, sensitivity when needed, and most of all, focus on the end game with extraordinary people.

We have asked our employees and their union leaders three times in the last several years to step up to tough stuff. In every instance, they made the tough decisions. Their willingness to make sacrifices while maintaining top-quality service to our valued customers, says volumes about the Aloha spirit within the heart and soul of these fine people.

I particularly wish to thank:

» Dave Bird, chairman of (the master executive council for the Air Line Pilots Association);

» Peggy Gordon, president of (the Association of Flight Attendants/Communications Workers of America);

» Randy Kauhane, assistant general chairman of (the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 141);

» Ken Boon, assistant general chairman of IAM 142;

» David Durkin, president of (the Transport Workers Union).

» The shareholders, and in particular the Chings and Ings, have a long and cherished history with this company. When I joined, I asked to be given the latitude to make the tough decisions without undue influence or avoidance of the myriad of business decisions that had to be made.

The shareholders were true to their word, and allowed the management team to execute, and they put cash behind their words.

» Our management team, some new but with an outstanding support staff comprised of a team of veterans in this business, many who are residents of this state, hung in there, put up with my idiosyncrasies and saw the ranks of VPs dwindle, dynamically increasing their workload -- with never a complaint.

» Hawaii's federal-, state- and county-elected officials, and all of our vendors, who have reached out during this past year. ... Without their support, we also would not have succeeded in getting this far. To them we owe thanks.

» Our customers, for their loyalty bringing cash in the door with every ticket sale. They provided the hope for our company to get through each day.

» Our team of professionals, led by Paul Singerman of Berger Singerman; Char Sakamoto Ishii Lum & Ching led by Betty Ishii; the Giuliani Group led by Marc Bilbao; our lead banker First Hawaiian Bank led by Don Horner; our local counsels Don Gelber and David Farmer; the unsecured creditors' committee chaired by Capt. Michael Feeney and guided by lead counsel Brett Miller; and Sheldon Kline of Thelen Reid.

» And many, many more who made this happen, we thank you.

MY COMMENTS would be far from complete without recognizing the presence of both Richard d'Abo of Yucaipa and Willie Gault of Aloha Aviation Investment Group. Without their financial commitment and support, this company would not be here, especially considering the rejections we faced in the investment community. I personally thank them, as well as Ron Burkle, for their confidence in the employees of this fine company.

And finally, Your Honor, you, too, have made the tough calls, sprinkling wisdom and experience with at times a level of common sense, humor and sensitivity that does your profession honor. You should take great pride, Your Honor, if I am permitted to say, in what has gone on this past year. Hopefully, this will be your last airline case in the islands.

And now, I assume you can renew your AlohaPass membership and continue to be one of our most-valued customers.

God bless.

www.archives.starbulletin.com/2005/12/04/business/story03.html * * * * *

NEW DISCOVERY (11-30-08):

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY

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Deep Roots, Flowering Branches

Louise Ing knows from whence she came.

By Georgette Woo, Island Scene

Like a path up a misty mountainside in a Chinese watercolor, Louise Ing's family history wends and winds between China and the Islands, intertwining with Honolulu history along the way. Ing's great-grandparents, Dr. Khai Fai Li and Dr. Tai Heong Kong, immigrated to Hawai'i from Canton in 1896 and were Hawai'i's first licensed medical doctors of Chinese ancestry.

"My great-grandmother," Ing says, "was featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not because she'd delivered 6,000 babies." In 1899, her great-grandfather diagnosed and reported Honolulu's first case of bubonic plague. Chinatown was subsequently quarantined and burned down when a sanitary fire got out of control.

Their daughter, Ing's grandmother, met and married Dr. Richard Sia. The couple moved to Beijing, where Ing's mom and siblings were born, but returned to Honolulu during the Japanese occupation of China during World War II. "My grandfather got a teaching position at the University of Hawai'i," Ing says. "To get out of China, they told the authorities they'd come back in a year."

Ing's mother, Julia Sia, married real estate developer Sheridan Ing. As a highly successful investor, Sheridan wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. But business wasn't Louise's focus.

While attending Yale College, Ing protested against the Vietnam War and supported civil rights. After completing her undergraduate degree, she enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley. "I was part of a group who entered law school thinking we'd change the world," she says.

Upon graduating, Ing returned to Honolulu and spent her first year clerking for Judge Samuel King. "That was a great year," Ing says. "It demystified the process and gave me a feel for courtroom work."

As Ing's career progressed, she became partner in a small firm. When the firm broke up in 1991, she and three of the other attorneys founded Alston, Hunt, Floyd and Ing, which currently employs more than 40 lawyers. Ing practices business and employment litigation, dispute resolution, and counseling.

"As a young lawyer," Ing says, "I'd complain about the long hours. And my father would tell me, 'Face it! You're going to have to work really hard until you're in your 40s.' And I'd think I couldn't last. Then, before I knew it, I was past it!"

As she neared mid-life, Ing decided to get into top condition. She began with hula classes at the YWCA, then added regular workouts at a gym. "It's helped me feel younger and more energized," she says.

Another activity that adds balance to Ing's life is serving on the boards for various organizations, including HMSA. It feels good, she says, to contribute to an organization's growth and well-being, and it helps her stay in tune with the community. "I also get to meet a wide variety of people I'd never encounter doing legal work," she says.

The experience has confirmed lessons she's learned from years of legal work. "Things are usually more complicated than they seem," she says. "When a big case hits the papers or there's an attention-grabbing headline about HMSA, you have to be a skeptic and get all the facts before you draw conclusions. It's been interesting learning the real story behind the news stories and the real issues involved. I'm impressed with the dedication and commitment of the people working for HMSA."

Over the years, Ing says, her legal work has tempered her idealism by teaching her to reserve judgment until she has all the facts. "With more information comes greater understanding," she says.

http://www.islandscene.com/Article.aspx?id=2500

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NEW DISCOVERY - 06/14/08: DAVID FARMER’S UNDISCLOSED RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE, JAMES MacARTHUR, THE MacARTHUR FOUNDATION, GOLDMAN SACHS, ROBERT RUBIN, BILL CLINTON, HENRY PAULSON, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY, FAYE KURREN, HAUNANI APOLIONA, KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS, WALLY CHIN, HENRY PETERS, BISHOP MUSEUM, ADELE SMITH SIMMONS, BRAD HEPPNER, MARSH & McLENNAN, JAMES WRISTON, JUNE JONES, JOE MOORE, JAMES NICHOLSON, RON REWALD, JUDGE REY GRAULTY, ETC....:

www.jamesmacarthur.com/TwentiethCentury/TwentiethCentury.shtml

http://starbulletin.com/1999/04/14/news/story1.html

www.kycbs.net/Non-Profits.htm

www.kycbs.net/Bishop-Museum.htm

www.kycbs.net/ConnecticutConnection.htm

www.kycbs.net/MarshBirds.htm

www.kycbs.net/WCI.htm

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U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

TRUSTEE v HAYES

IN RE: BISHOP, BALDWIN, REWALD,

DILLINGHAM & WONG, INC., a

Hawaii corporation, Debtor. No. 95-16119

OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE, 83-00381-MP

Appellant,

THOMAS HAYES,

Appellee.

IN RE: BISHOP, BALDWIN, REWALD, DILLINGHAM & WONG, INC.,
a Hawaii corporation, Debtor.

No. 95-16776

OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE, Appellant

THOMAS HAYES; REYNALDO D. GRAULTY, Trustee,

Chapter 7 Trustee; HONOLULU PROFESSIONAL

SERVICES; BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEE,

Appellees.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii Martin Pence, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted November 4, 1996--Honolulu, Hawaii

Filed January 13, 1997

Before: J. Clifford Wallace, Mary M. Schroeder, and Arthur A. Alarcon, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam Opinion

COUNSEL

Kathleen Dunivin Schmitt, United States Department of Justice, Executive Office for United States Trustees, Washington, D.C., for the appellant.

James F. Evers, Wagner, Watson & Pettit, Honolulu, Hawaii, for appellees Graulty, as trustee, and Wagner, Watson & Pettit.

Stanley E. Levin, Davis & Levin, Honolulu, Hawaii, for appellee Graulty, individually.

Louise K.Y. Ing, Alston, Hunt, Floyd & Ing, Honolulu, Hawaii, for appellees Thomas Hayes and Honolulu Professional Services.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

The United States Trustee (U.S. Trustee) appeals from the district court's order overruling the objection to Reynaldo Graulty's final report as trustee for the Bishop Estate (Estate). The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.S 157(d). We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. S 1291, and we vacate the district court's order and remand this case for 56 days for clarification.

During 1990-1992, Graulty was trustee for the Estate. Mary Louise Scheulin, as an employee of the Estate, oversaw its day-to-day operations during that time and incurred both salary and rent expenses. Scheulin was hired by the Estate's administrative controller, Thomas Hayes, whom Graulty hired with the district court's approval. Over the U.S. Trustee's objection, the district court, on May 26, 1995, approved Graulty's final report for the Estate. In that report, the Estate, and not Graulty, was responsible for Scheulin's expenses. The U.S. Trustee again objected that the workload of the Estate did not justify Scheulin's employment, and argued that someone else -- presumably Graulty -- should be responsible for Scheulin's expenses. The district court once more overruled the U.S. Trustee's objection on July 14, 1995 ....

Since we remand the case solely due to the failure of Graulty to prepare the final report adequately and due to omissions in the draft order he presented to the court, the district court shall not require the Estate to compensate Graulty for any work arising from this remand.

VACATED AND REMANDED.

www.kycbs.net/Rewald-Trustee-vs-Hayes.htm

Also see:

www.kycbs.net/Aloha-Air.htm

www.kycbs.net/Confessions.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Fuqua-Judith.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Farmer-David.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Guttman-Steven.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Alston-Paul.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Graulty-Rey.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Ezra-David.htm

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January 27, 2006

Aloha Airlines achieves deal to
ascend from bankruptcy

By Dave Segal, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Aloha Airlines has reached a new deal with its investors that soon could fly the carrier out of bankruptcy.

The company, whose emergence from bankruptcy was delayed last month by an appeal from the federal agency that guarantees pension plans, filed a motion yesterday seeking a hearing Tuesday before Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris on a restructured reorganization proposal.

A NEW BEGINNING

Key features of Aloha Airlines' modified reorganization plan:

» $43.25 million in cash from the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund I LP

» $16.8 million in cash and converted debt from the Aloha Aviation Investment Group

» $2.2 million from Aloha Hawaii Investors LLC, consisting of the Ing family partnership of Richard Ing and his sister, Louise Ing Sitch; Hawaii developer Stanford Carr; Duane Kurisu; and Colbert Matsumoto

» $750,000 from GMAC

» $35 million in exit debt financing

» $4.5 million in cost savings

Aloha also is asking for a waiver of the 10-day comment period if Faris approves the new plan....

David Banmiller, president and chief executive of Aloha, said in a statement yesterday that he hopes the modifications allow for a successful completion of Aloha's bankruptcy reorganization and the recapitalization of the company.

"The new equity investment clearly strengthens Aloha's financial position and has the added advantage of participation by new Hawaii investors," Banmiller said.

Aloha's new plan includes $43.25 million in cash from the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund I LP, headed by billionaire grocery magnate Ronald Burkle, and $16.8 million in cash and converted debt from Aloha Aviation Investment Group, led by former National Football League star Willie Gault. Yucaipa's cash investment is a $10 million increase from its previous proposal.

In addition, $2.2 million in cash is coming from a new group, Aloha Hawaii Investors LLC, which consists of the Ing family partnership of Richard Ing and his sister, attorney Louise Ing Sitch, both of whom are among the current owners of the airline; Hawaii developer Stanford Carr; Duane Kurisu, who has Hawaii commercial real estate and communications holdings; and Colbert Matsumoto, president of Island Holdings Inc., the parent company of Island Insurance.

Kurisu and Matsumoto are board members of Oahu Publications Inc., publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek....

GMAC, the finance arm of General Motors, also is putting in $750,000 in cash....

Included in the new cost savings are the elimination of a proposed $2 million note and $175,000 cash distribution to Aloha's unsecured creditors. The total amount of unsecured claims against the carrier is approximately $207 million, according to the motion, and it is uncertain how many cents on the dollar unsecured creditors will get. However, the motion said the recovery to unsecured creditors under the modified plan will be reduced by less than 1 percent from what creditors were going to receive under the previous plan. Under that plan, unsecured creditors were expected to receive less than 5 cents on the dollar.

The attorneys and advisers connected with the case also have agreed to reduce their fees collectively by $1 million.

Aloha said in its filing that all key constituents support the plan and that it must be approved expeditiously.

"If not," the motion said, "there is the distinct possibility that (Aloha) could run out of cash and would be forced to cease operating, rendering 3,500 residents of the state of Hawaii unemployed, and severely harming the state of Hawaii's passenger and cargo operations."

The new deal became necessary when investors Yucaipa and AAIG balked after Aloha failed to emerge from bankruptcy by a Dec. 15 deadline. Aloha's first reorganization plan was approved on Nov. 29.

Aloha, which filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 30, 2004, saw its goal of emerging from Chapter 11 in less than a year thwarted when the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. filed several last-minutes appeals last month. The agency and Aloha have since reached a tentative settlement, though details have not been disclosed.

Aloha blamed the PBGC's appeals and rising fuel prices for the need to restructure the deal.

"These cost increases make the original plan's capital and price structure unworkable," the motion said.

http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/27/news/story04.html

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Black, Dan Case, Dennis Francis,
Larry Johnson, Duane Kurisu, Warren Luke,
Colbert Matsumoto, Jeffrey Watanabe, Michael Wo