David C. Farmer vs. Harmon - Witness John Kerry

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

JOHN KERRY

John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, he was defeated by 34 electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election by the Republican incumbent President George W. Bush. Senator Kerry is currently the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He is a Vietnam veteran, and was a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War when he returned home from service. Before entering the Senate, he served as a District Attorney and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts under Michael Dukakis, who would also become a future Democratic Presidential nominee....

Family

Kerry was married to Julia Thorne in 1970, and they had two daughters together:...

In 1982 Thorne, who was suffering from severe depression, asked Kerry for a separation. They were divorced on July 25, 1988, and the marriage was formally annulled in 1997. "After 14 years as a political wife, I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness" she wrote in A Change of Heart, her book about depression.... She died of cancer on April 27, 2006.

Kerry and his second wife, Teresa Simões-Ferreira Heinz, the widow of Pennsylvania Senator H. John Heinz III, a Republican, and former United Nations interpreter were introduced to each other by John Heinz at an Earth Day rally in 1990. They did not meet again until after John Heinz's death, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. They married on May 26, 1995, in Nantucket....

The Forbes 400 survey estimated in 2004 that Teresa Heinz Kerry had a net worth of $750 million. However, estimates have frequently varied, ranging from around $165 million to as high as $3.2 billion, according to a study in the Los Angeles Times. Regardless of which figure is correct, Kerry is the wealthiest U.S. Senator. Kerry is wealthy in his own name, and is the beneficiary of at least four trusts inherited from Forbes family members, including his mother, who died in 2002. Forbes magazine (a major business magazine named for an unrelated Forbes family) estimated that if elected, Kerry would have been the third-richest U.S. President in history when adjusted for inflation.[91] This assessment was based on the couple's combined assets, but Kerry and Heinz signed a prenuptial agreement that keeps their assets separate. Kerry's financial disclosure form for 2002 put his personal assets in the range of $409,000 to $1.8 million, with additional assets held jointly by Kerry and his wife in the range of $300,000 to $600,000....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry

See also:

http://www.johnkerry.com/pages/about/

http://www.johnkerry.com/

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February 5, 2004

Kerry blocked Big Dig provision, then got large donations

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kerry said Thursday his intervention on a legislative matter that affected the nation's most expensive highway project had nothing to do with an insurer who benefited from his action and later gave him tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

Responding to an Associated Press report Wednesday about the donations, Massachusetts Sen. Kerry said he had worked to block the legislation because it would have cost Boston's "Big Dig'" project $150 million. The legislation in 2000 aimed to close a loophole that had allowed the insurer to divert millions of federal dollars from the project.

The entire Massachusetts delegation "fought to hold onto $150 million for the Big Dig, which is the most important single project in Massachusetts and New England, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the industry," Kerry said.

He said he had opposed the insurance industry on other legislative issues including bankruptcy changes and terrorism insurance.

In the two years after the Big Dig issue, American International Group paid Kerry's way on a trip to Vermont and donated at least $30,000 to a tax-exempt group Kerry used to set up his presidential campaign. Company executives also donated $18,000 to his Senate and presidential campaigns, according to records obtained by AP.

Some government watchdogs said Kerry's story is a textbook case of Washington special interest politicking that he rails against on the presidential trail.

"The idea that Kerry has not helped or benefited from a specific special interest, which he has said, is utterly absurd," said Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity that just published a book on political donations to the presidential candidates.

"Anyone who gets millions of dollars over time, and thousands of dollars from specific donors, knows there's a symbiotic relationship," Lewis said. "He needs the donors' money. The donors need favors. Welcome to Washington. That is how it works."

The documents obtained by AP detail Kerry's effort as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee to persuade committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., to drop legislation that would have stripped $150 million from the Big Dig project and ended the insurance funding loophole.

The Massachusetts Democrat actually was critical of the loophole but didn't want money stripped from the project because it would hurt his constituents who needed the Boston project finished, Cutter said.

When the "AIG investment scheme (came) to light, John Kerry called for public hearings to investigate the parties involved and the legality of the investment practices. However, he firmly believed cutting funding for the Big Dig was not the answer," Cutter said.

Instead of McCain's bluntly worded legislation, Kerry asked for a committee hearing in May 2000. Kerry thanked McCain at the start of the hearing for dropping his legislation and an AIG executive was permitted to testify that he believed the company's work for the Big Dig was a good thing even though it was criticized by federal auditors.

"From the perspective of public and worker safety and cost control, AIG's insurance program has been a success," AIG executive Richard Thomas testified.

Asked why Kerry would subsequently accept a trip and money from AIG in 2001 and 2002 if he was concerned by the investment scheme, Cutter replied: "Any contributions AIG made to the senator's campaign came years after the investigation."

The New York-based insurer, one of the world's largest, declined to comment on its donations to Kerry, simply stating, "AIG never requested any assistance from Senator Kerry concerning the insurance we provided the Big Dig."

The Big Dig project has become a symbol of government contracting gone awry, known for its huge cost overruns that now total several billion dollars, and its admissions of mismanagement.

During the 1990s, Sens. Kerry and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., helped win new federal funding for the project as its costs skyrocketed and threatened to burden the state's government. In 1998, Kerry was credited with winning $100 million in new federal funding.

But in 1999, Transportation Department auditors discovered that Big Dig managers had overpaid $129.8 million to AIG for worker compensation and liability insurance that wasn't needed, then allowed the insurer to keep the money in a trust and invest it in the market. The government alleged AIG kept about half of the profits it made from the investments, providing the other half to the project.

Outraged by the revelations, McCain submitted legislation that would have stripped $150 million from the Big Dig and banned the practice of allowing an insurer to invest and profit from excessive premiums paid with government money.

"Any refunds of insurance premiums or reserve amounts, including interest, that exceed a project's liabilities shall be immediately returned to the federal government," McCain's legislation said.

But Kerry and Kennedy intervened, and McCain withdrew the legislation in 2000 in favor of the hearing. A Senate Commerce Committee aide, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said McCain dropped the provision because the Massachusetts delegation's opposition threatened a broader highway safety bill.

At that hearing, the Transportation's Department inspector general made a renewed plea for a permanent federal policy banning the overpayment of insurance premiums and subsequent investment for profit — what McCain had proposed and Kerry helped kill.

"The policy is needed to ensure that projects do not attempt to draw down federal funds for investment purposes under the guise that they are needed to pay insurance claims," the inspector general told senators.

In September 2001, AIG paid an estimated $540 in travel expenses to cover Kerry's costs for a speech in Burlington, Vt., according to a Senate report filed by Kerry.

A few months later in December 2001, several AIG executives gave maximum $1,000 donations to Kerry's Senate campaign on the same day. The donations totaled $9,700 and were followed by several thousand dollars more over the next two years.

Kerry wasn't the only committee member to get AIG donations. In 1999 and early 2000 as the Big Dig issue was pending, McCain received several thousand dollars in donations from executives of the insurer, the records show.

In spring 2002, AIG donated $10,000 to a new tax-exempt group Kerry formed, the Citizen Soldier Fund, to lay groundwork for his presidential campaign. Later that same year, AIG gave two more donations of $10,000 each to the same group, making it one of the largest corporate donors to Kerry's group.

The insurer wasn't the only company connected to the Big Dig to donate to Kerry's new group. Two construction companies on the project — Modern Continental Group and Jay Cashman Construction — each donated $25,000, IRS records show.

U.S.A. Today

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Dean O'Hare, Former CEO of the Chubb Corporation, Elected to Chair SeaPass Board of Directors

Business Wire , Sept 29, 2004

NEW YORK -- Dean R. O'Hare, former chairman and chief executive officer of The Chubb Corporation, has been elected chairman of the board of directors for New York-based SeaPass Solutions, a leading developer of software for the insurance industry.

"I am delighted to head the SeaPass board because I am convinced that SeaPass has created a solution to what I thought for decades to be the most critical problem the insurance industry faces - real-time connectivity and communications," said Mr. O'Hare. "For years in the business, I have struggled with this issue and, frankly, thought it was impossible to resolve. Yet, from a single technology platform, the SeaPass solution literally enables easy, error-free data exchange and interaction among agents, carriers, brokers and wholesalers to get quotes and bind coverage in seconds. This solution is so critical to the future of the industry that I have given SeaPass my full support to help them succeed where existing systems currently have not."...

O'Hare retired as chairman and chief executive officer of The Chubb Corporation, one of the world's leading property and casualty insurance companies, at the end of 2002, capping more than 40 years of distinguished leadership in the industry. He served as a member of the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. He was a member of The Business Roundtable and the Global Business Dialogue on E-commerce, and was a financial governor of the World Economic Forum (Davos). He served as a director of the American Insurance Association for 15 years and as chairman for 4 years. O'Hare is currently a director of Fluor Corporation and H.J. Heinz Company, chairman of the New Jersey Partnership and Chairman of the United States Council for International Business.

"We are extremely fortunate to have as our chairman a business statesman of Dean O'Hare's stature," said SeaPass President of U.S. Operations, Eric Gewirtzman. "His prominence in both the national and international insurance industry, along with his management insight and leadership will be a tremendous asset to our Board of Directors."

About SeaPass

SeaPass Solutions, founded in 2000, is headquartered in New York City. The company develops and markets solutions that enable insurance carriers, agents, brokers and wholesalers to transmit and receive data in real-time and leverage existing systems to automatically interact with one another, leading to reduced costs, better new business and successful transactions. Since mid-2001, SeaPass has been implementing its solutions at national insurance carriers, regional carriers, banks, large agencies and brokers.

SeaPass investors include, Hyperion, a world renowned merchant banking fund specializing in investments in financial-services related companies and pioneering technologies, and Platinum Neuron Ventures, a fund backed by global investors such as Bank of America.

For more information about SeaPass, please visit: www.seapass.com

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March 18, 2009

Judge rules against Merrill on keeping bonuses secret

Tags: Bank of America Commerce, Merrill Lynch, Wall Street

by Rudy Sutherland

(NEW YORK) A New York state judge ruled Wednesday afternoon that New York’s attorney general could disclose the names of Merrill Lynch executives who received 2008 bonuses as part of his investigation of the firm.

“The record does not support the intervenors’ claim that the employee compensation information is a trade secret,” Justice Bernard J. Fried of New York State Supreme Court wrote, referring to Merrill and its corporate parent, Bank of America.

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has been demanding the names of Merrill’s 200 most highly paid employees, as part of an investigation into Bank of America’s acquisition of the firm, which was completed at the beginning of the year. The names could be released as early as Thursday.

Lawyers for Merrill and Bank of America argued last Friday that the names should not be disclosed publicly, since they were as much a trade secret as the recipe for Carvel ice cream.

“I conclude there is no legal basis for the proposed petitions to quash, fix conditions or modify subpoena and for a protective order,” Judge Fried said in his ruling.

“Today’s decision in the Bank of America case is a victory for taxpayers,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “Let the sun shine in. Justice Fried’s decision will now lift the shroud of secrecy surrounding the $3.6 billion in premature bonuses Merrill Lynch rushed out in early December. Taxpayers demand and deserve transparency and now they will finally get it.”

Merrill employees were collectively given billions of dollars in bonuses shortly before its sale to Bank of America closed. Around the same time, Bank of America learned that Merrill’s fourth-quarter loss would be much larger than expected, and the shortfall forced Bank of America’s to go to the government to seek more financial aid.

Among other things, Mr. Cuomo has alleged that Merrill misled Congress about the timing of the bonuses.

As part of his investigation, Mr. Cuomo’s office has interviewed Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America’s chief executive; John Finnegan, the chief executive of Chubb, who headed Merrill’s compensation committee; and John A. Thain, Merrill’s former chief executive.

Bank of America has tried to prevent the names from being made public, arguing that it would cause the company “grave harm,” making it easier for rivals to poach employees and invading workers’ privacy.

Wordpress.com

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John Kerry is expected to testify regarding his business, professional and personal relationships with John Finnegan, Dean O’Hare, Robin Campaniano, American International Group; Maurice “Hank” Greenberg; Alan “Ace” Greenberg; Bear Stearns; The Chubb Group; The Starr Foundation; Lee Bass; Charles Wyly; Milton Holt; Michael Chun; Linda Chu Takayama; Wayne Metcalf; Rey Graulty; J.P. Schmidt; John Burns; George Ariyoshi; John Waihee; Ben Cayetano; Linda Lingle; Warren Price; Earl Anzai; Lyn Anzai; Mark Bennett; Alexander & Baldwin; C. Brewer & Co.; Hawaiian Insurance Companies; UNICO; Hawaiian Electric Industries; Constance Lau; Diane Plotts; Robert Clarke; Zephyr Insurance; Investors Equity Life Insurance Co.; Executive Life Insurance Co.; University of Hawaii Foundation; Art Woolaway; Evan Dobelle; Chaminade University; Jean E. Rolles, J. Douglas Ing; Robert Kihune; Henry Peters; Richard Wong; William S. Richardson; Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate; Bishop Museum; Mark Polivka; Patti-Jo Day; Hamilton McCubbin; Dee Jay Mailer; Edwina Clarke; Rodney Park; Clyde Mark; Rocco Sansone; Marsh & McLennan; John Mullen; Terry Mullen; Craig Watanabe; Hawaii Captive Insurance Association; Colbert Matsumoto; Wayne Arakaki; Linda Gilchrist; Island Insurance Co.; Donna Tanoue; Bank of Hawaii; Sukamto Sia; Bank of Honolulu; Susan Tius; Jeffrey Watanabe; Ed Case; Steve Case; Suzanne Case; The Nature Conservancy; Hawaiian Airlines; Judith Neustadter Fuqua; John Marshall; Robert Kessner; James Duca; Steven Guttman; Mary Lou Woo; Michael Joye, James Nicholson, David C. Farmer, Loren Farmer, Dan Case, Warren Buffett, Castle & Cooke, Houghton Freeman, Valerie U. Katz, Ron Rewald, Larry Mehau, Enrique Zobel, The Consuelo Zobel Foundation, Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos, Bong Bong Marcos, Sherry Broder, Jon Van Dyke, University of Hawaii, East-West Center, Neal Kunde, Gerald Takeuchi, Four Star Insurance Agency, Bruce Dunford, and others to be named upon discovery.