David C. Farmer vs. Harmon - Witness Ron Sakamoto, Esq.

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

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

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

—

DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

RONALD R. SAKAMOTO

Char Sakamoto Ishii Lum & Ching
Honolulu, HI 96813

Contact Information: Facsimile: 808-522-5144

Ron Sakamoto was an attorney for Kamehameha Schools Trustee Gerard Jervis (a defendant in my RICO lawsuit), and for other witnesses and entities related to this lawsuit. Sakamoto’s law firm was one of the firms representing Aloha Airlines in their bankruptcy case, along with plaintiff in this case, Trustee David C. Farmer

Ronald R. Sakamoto practices in the following areas of law: Taxation; Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations; Business Law; Corporate Law; Partnership Law; Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures; Contracts

Admitted: 1979, Hawaii and U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii; 1986, U.S. Tax Court

Law School: University of Hawaii, J.D., 1979

College: Whitman College, B.A., with distinction, 1973

Member: Hawaii State Bar Association (Member: Model Business Corporation Act Committee, 1979; Vice Chairman, Corporations and Securities Section, 1982-1984; Chairman, Legislation Committee, 1985; Chairman, Tax Section, 1994; Chairman Corporations and Securities Section, 1995-1996); American Bar Association.

Biography: Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in Torts. Associate Editor and Business and Production Manager, University of Hawaii Law Review, 1978-1979.

Born: Honolulu, Hawaii, October 2, 1951

Char Sakamoto Ishii Lum & Ching practices in the following areas of law:

Litigation, Appellate Practice, Business Law, Commercial Law, Contracts, Corporate Law, Partnership Law, Finance, Leases, Leasing, Antitrust, Trade Regulation, Mergers, Acquisitions, Divestitures, Labor, Employment, Aviation, Aerospace, Real Estate, Taxation, Trusts and Estates, Wills, Probate and Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations.

Firm Profile:

We are committed to the following goals: to provide quality legal services for fair and reasonable compensation; to excel in individual areas of expertise; and to represent each client as responsibly and vigorously as we would want to be represented were we in the client's place. We have earned a reputation for obtaining superior results and providing high quality, responsive and efficient service. We undertake civil and commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution (including civil trials, appeals, administrative and grievance hearings and mediations and arbitrations, involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, antitrust violation, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, construction defects, constitutional rights, products liability, creditors' rights and shareholder disputes. We counsel on tax matters, employee benefits, contracts rights, employment discrimination and regulatory requirements, and prepare estate plans, structure business ventures and negotiate and document real property transactions, sales of businesses, equipment leases, financing documents and franchise agreements. By maintaining sight of our goals, we will continue to achieve superior results for clients.

Firm Size: 9

Representative Clients:

Aala Ship Service; Actus Lend Lease LLC; Alliance of Hawaii Pharmacies, Inc.; American Mutual Group; Bank of Honolulu; Bombardier Capital, Inc.; Cabras Marine Corporation; Chrysler Capital Corporation; C.S. Wo & Sons, Limited; Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, Ltd; Diamond Head Memorial Park; Far Eastern International Sales; Federal Express Corporation; Fireman's Fund Insurance Company; First Insurance Company of Hawaii, Limited; First Risk Management Services, Inc.; G.W. Killebrew Co., Inc.; Hakuyosha Hawaii, Inc.; Hawaii Egg Producers Cooperative; Hawaii Pacific Health (Kapi'olani Health, Kapi'olani Medical Center at Pali Momi, Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, Straub Clinic & Hospital and Wilcox Memorial Hospital); Hawaii Partnership for a Competitive Economy (Hawaii Business Roundtable and Enterprise Honolulu); Healthy's, Inc.; Highridge Partners, Inc.; Internet Movie Channel; JCB International Co., Ltd.; Jodo Mission of Hawaii; Kawasaki Enterprises, Inc.; Kellogg Sales Co.; Koolau Radiology, Inc.; Liliha Bakery, Ltd.; Montecito Hawaii, LLC (dba Khon T.V.); Morrow Crane Co. Inc.; Nittaku Investment, Inc.; Oahu Waste Services, Inc.; Pacific Beach Corporation; Pacific Cultural Center; Pan-American MOA Foundation; Prada Hawaii Corp.; Prime Care Services Hawaii, Inc.; Pruvient Energy Guam Investments, Inc.; Quinn Supers, Inc. (dba Times Super Markets); Sam Sung Development Co., Ltd.; Sanpei Hawaii Co., Ltd.; Shiseido Hawaii, Inc.; Spectrum Health Care Services; The Gas Company, LLC; The Queen Emma Foundation; The Queen's Health Systems; Theo H. Davies Co.; Ltd.; Tihati Productions, Ltd.; Tileco, Inc.; Town & Country Recreation, Inc. (dba Town & Country Surf Shop); Unicold Corporation; Waikapu Mauka Partners....

Lawyers.com

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THE GERARD JERVIS PHOTO GALLERY

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/08/news/story04.html

http://starbulletin.com/1999/03/12/news/story1.html

http://starbulletin.com/97/11/06/news/story1.html

http://starbulletin.com/97/08/20/news/story2.html

http://starbulletin.com/97/08/13/news/story1.html

http://starbulletin.com/specials/bishop/story2.html

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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, etc.

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

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NEW DISCOVERY (07-13-08): More factual evidence regarding undisclosed professional and financial conflicts of interest of Trustee David C. Farmer and parties involved in the Aloha Airlines bankruptcy case:

July 13, 2008

Put it on Aloha's tab

By Rick Daysog, Advertiser Staff Writer

The shutdown of Aloha Airlines is benefiting one sector of the economy: bankruptcy lawyers and their consultants.

Since March, attorneys and experts hired by Aloha have billed the defunct airline nearly $3 million, federal bankruptcy court filings show.

The legal tab is well below the $11 million that Aloha wracked up during its previous bankruptcy, but the amount is expected to increase since the case is still pending.

Employees and retirees say the money would have been spent better if it were used to keep the airline afloat. It also could have been used to pay for health benefits or severance for the 1,900 Aloha employees who lost their jobs when the airline went out of business on March 31, they said.

"It's outrageous to charge such fees when you are just closing the door and turning off the lights," said Steve Brenessel, a retired Aloha pilot.

"All that money could have been better spent by keeping the airline going instead of going into the pockets of lawyers."

Bankruptcy experts say the fees in the Aloha liquidation aren't out of line.

Typically, attorney fees and other costs for small bankruptcies amount to about 10 percent of the assets, said Lynn LoPucki, a law professor at the University of California-Los Angeles.

Aloha has received about $20 million from the sale of its profitable cargo and contract services unit. It expects to receive another $10 million to $15 million from the sale of its aircraft frames, engines and other aircraft parts.

"This is probably an ordinary fee for this size of a case," said LoPucki.

Founded in 1946, Aloha was the state's second largest airline before shutting down its passenger service on March 31 as a result of soaring fuel prices and a costly interisland fare war.

The closure came 11 days after Aloha filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, two years after Aloha emerged from its first bankruptcy.

In Aloha's previous bankruptcy, six law firms or investment banking firms billed more than $1 million while a seventh billed just under that amount.

This time, just one firm — Imperial Capital LLC — submitted a bill for more than $1 million.

Imperial, whose fees have not yet been approved by the bankruptcy court, helped Aloha sell the cargo division for $17 million to Saltchuk Resources Inc., the Seattle-based owner of Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge.

Here's what the other firms billed Aloha:

Miami-based Berger Singerman P.A., which was Aloha's main bankruptcy attorney, received $644,991.51 in fees and expenses. In Aloha's first bankruptcy, the firm earned more than $3 million for its work in helping the airline emerge from reorganization under new ownership;

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP of Los Angeles, which represented Aloha on labor related issues, billed $303,904.62;

Char Sakamoto Ishii Lum & Ching, Aloha's long-time law firm, was paid $297,473.48, or less than a third of what it billed during Aloha's first bankruptcy.

Sonneschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, which represented Aloha's unsecured creditors, earned $242,896.18.

The fees do not include those for Aloha's court-appointed trustee Dane Field who, along with local attorney, James Wagner, have done much of the legal work surrounding the liquidation of Aloha's assets.

Field and Wagner's firm, Wagner Choi & Verbrugge, have not yet applied for their fees.

The total also does not include fees that will be paid to the Los Angeles litigation firm Latham & Watkins LLP and locally based Watanabe Ing Komeiji LLP.

The Latham and Watanabe firms are handling Aloha's anti-trust lawsuit against Mesa Air Group, the Phoenix-based parent of go! airlines.

Aloha recently sold its legal claims against Mesa to its main investor Yucaipa Co., which has agreed to retain the two firms and pay their legal bills.

The suit — which alleges Mesa misused confidential business information to drive Aloha out of business — will likely result in legal fees exceeding $1 million.

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BANKRUPTCY FEES FROM AIRLINE’S CLOSURE

Law Firms and Consultants Fees Expenses Total

Imperial Capital LLC $1,288,517. $19,336. $1,305.835.

Berger Singerman P.A. $603,272. $41,719. $644,991.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter... $203.835. $10,169. $303,004.

Char Sakamoto Ishii Lum & Ching $281,183. $13,249. $297,473.

Sonneschein Nath LLP $235,135. $7,760. $242,896.

David Farmer $87,648. $9,654. $97,303.

Bronster Crabtree & Hoshibata $38,307. $4,160. $42,468.

Source: Bankruptcy Court Filings

COST OF PREVIOUS BANKRUPTCIES

Company Years Cost

1. Hawaiian Airlines 2003-2005 $34 million

2. Liberty House 1996-2001 $16 million

3. Aloha Airlines 2004-2006 $11 million

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Honolulu Advertiser: Put it on Aloha's tab

* * *

October 3, 1997

Bishop legal team
size exaggerated,
lawyer says

McCorriston says rumors
that the estate has hired
several law firms are false

By Mike Yuen, Star-Bulletin

Bishop Estate attorney William McCorriston says Gov. Ben Cayetano was wrong in asserting that the five trustees for the $10 billion charitable trust are improperly using trust funds for legal representation during a state investigation.

Cayetano was also incorrect when he repeated a rumor that the estate was bracing for the inquiry by bolstering its "legal armament" by hiring five to seven law firms, including several from the mainland, McCorriston said yesterday.

There are only two outside lawyers - himself and Malcolm Moore, 60, who is regarded as one of the nation's leading trust law experts, McCorriston said.

The Princeton-and Harvard-educated Moore, a former president of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, is with the Seattle law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, whose 10 branch offices include Honolulu, San Francisco, Washington and Shanghai.

Responding to Cayetano

McCorriston's rebuttal came less than two hours after Cayetano, in response to reporters' questions, commented on the state's investigation into the estate.

"Unfortunately, the governor was not aware of all the facts before he made a judgment. The fact of the matter is that the trustees, on my advice, have retained individual counsel on matters pertaining to the investigation that could lead to personal liability," said McCorriston, who began representing the estate last month.

The trustees will be paying for their personal counsel - not the estate, said McCorriston.

Trustee Gerard Jervis said his attorney, Ronald Sakamoto, 46, a partner in the Honolulu law firm of Char Sakamoto Ishii Lum & Ching, will represent him.

Jervis said he was confident there will be no finding that he breached his fiduciary responsibilities. "I welcome the inquiries," he said, referring to the investigation headed by state Attorney General Margery Bronster and the fact-finding inquiry by retired state Circuit Judge Patrick Yim.

Trustee Oswald Stender is represented by attorney Crystal Rose, 39, a partner in the Honolulu law firm of Bays Deaver Hiatt Lung & Rose. Rose accompanied Stender when he met with Bronster last month.

Trustees Richard "Dickie" Wong, Henry Peters and Lokelani Lindsey could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Individuals investigated

McCorriston declined to reveal who are the personal attorneys for Wong, Peters and Lindsey. He also declined to say when trustees retained personal attorneys and when the estate hired Moore.

McCorriston said he and Moore are representing the institutional interests of the Bishop Estate, while the trustees have their own lawyers because "it's hard now to ascertain what the attorney general's investigation consists of."

It is when Bronster's investigation becomes more focused that he, Moore and the trustees' personal attorneys will know who has to respond, McCorriston said.

"Until there are specific allegations, it's like shadow boxing," he added.

Cynthia Quinn, Bronster's special assistant, said McCorriston should by now know where the state inquiry is headed. "It's abundantly clear" that Bronster is investigating individual trustees - not the estate, Quinn said.

And if it becomes clear that McCorriston's role, for example, is more in the interest of the trustees than the Bishop Estate, the state will ask the court that trust funds not be used to pay McCorriston, Quinn said.

'Resistance is a mistake'

Cayetano, who had urged reporters to ask estate representatives if they were amassing a large and formidable legal team, did at the same time say, "If I am wrong, I apologize."

But he also asserted that "resistance to us looking into (Bishop Estate) documents is a mistake."

Cayetano added: "If you want to just get this thing over with, it's not hard to separate the interest of the trustees from the estate. If what we want is information which may substantiate that trust money was used to repair someone's home, how is that hurting the estate by giving us that information? In fact, it helps protect the estate from further misuse of money - if, in fact, it was misused."

The "Broken Trust" opinion piece that appeared Aug. 9 in the Star-Bulletin, sparked the state's investigation. One of the questions it raised: Did trustee Lindsey use Bishop Estate workers "to survey her North Shore property, process her permits and supervise the rebuilding of her house"?

Cayetano said even with 1998 an election year, the investigation won't go away.

~ ~ ~

Reporters object to subpoenas

By Gordon Pang, Star-Bulletin

Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate will have to go to court if it wants the notes and documents of three reporters who have written on the estate.

Attorneys for the reporters are objecting to subpoenas served by Bishop Estate two weeks ago.

Paul Alston, who is representing reporters Jim Dooley of KITV News4 and Sally Apgar of the Honolulu Advertiser, yesterday filed formal objections in Circuit Court.

Both he and Corey Park, attorney for Associated Press reporter Bruce Dunford, have sent letters to the estate refusing to release any documents.

Bishop Estate alleges that information obtained by the reporters came from Bobby Harmon, an executive who was fired by the estate.

Harmon, who served as president and chief executive for Bishop subsidiary P&C Insurance Co., was sued by the estate to stop him from releasing information he gathered or learned while still in its employment.

The estate says Harmon stole documents from its offices.

Harmon countersued, claiming wrongful termination.

Alston said the subpoenas served to his clients were improperly issued and violate the First Amendment.

He added that Harmon never claimed to have given reporters anything more than a synopsis of information which he wrote.

Park said it didn't matter even if Harmon had given his client documents that were stolen.

"The press in this case was not a party to any kind of alleged improper activity in obtaining the information."

The estate must now ask a judge to intercede if it wants the documents.

Estate spokeswoman Elisa Yadao would not say if the estate would go to court to seek the documents.

"We are going to do what is appropriate and prudent in our attempts to get the information back," she said.

http://www.starbulletin.com/97/10/03/news/story2.html

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NEW DISCOVERY (03/13/08):

March 13, 2008

Jervis pleads not guilty in attack

The former official for Kamehameha Schools is accused of ramming his car into an SUV

By Gregg K. Kakesako, Star-Bulletin

Former Kamehameha Schools trustee Gerard Jervis pleaded not guilty yesterday to first-degree criminal property damage for allegedly using his car to ram a sport utility vehicle carrying teenagers who he said threw eggs at his house.

Jervis appeared in Honolulu District Court with two attorneys, his wife and about a half-dozen other people described as family. He did not speak to reporters as he left the courtroom.

Attorney Dan Oyasato said Jervis would have no comment on either the "public perception" or the "public discussion of this matter."

"Mr. Jervis is maintaining his innocence," Oyasato said.

District Judge Russel Nagata granted a motion by another Jervis attorney, Dean Hoe, that the SUV not be touched for the next two weeks so it can be inspected. Nagata scheduled a preliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. April 3.

Jervis was arrested Friday night after a car chase in which the SUV ended up suspended on a utility pole guy wire. He was also arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of an intoxicant but has not been charged with that offense.

Lawyer Paul Cunney said earlier that Jervis had just returned to his Lanikai home from dinner when the egging occurred. Cunney said Jervis got into his BMW sedan, followed the SUV and flashed his lights to get it to stop. He said Jervis only hit the SUV after it lost control on a turn and crashed.

Four teenagers in the SUV were identified by Cunney as Saint Louis School students.

http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/13/news/story07.html

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NEW DISCOVERY (03-09-08):

March 9, 2008

Former trustee arrested after
Lanikai car chase, crash

Teenagers egged home of former trustee Gerard Jervis,
who gave chase while drunk, say police

By Gene Park, Star-Bulletin

Former Bishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis was drunk when he rammed his black BMW sedan into a sport utility vehicle carrying four teenagers late Friday night in Lanikai, Honolulu police said.

Jervis was arrested following a car chase through Lanikai that ended with the SUV hanging off of a telephone cable at the intersection of Aalapapa and Kaelepulu drives.

The SUV was propelled up a telephone pole, and stayed in a vertical position, "risking the lives" of the four 17-year-old boys, police said.

Neither Jervis nor the boys were injured in the incident.

Police said Jervis got into his car and drove after the boys after they allegedly threw eggs at his Onekea Street house and neighboring homes at about 11 p.m. Friday night.

Jervis was arrested on suspicion of first-degree criminal property damage and driving under the influence and remained in police custody last night at the main cellblock downtown. The driver of the SUV was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Police said they have also opened a harassment investigation against the boys in connection with the egg-throwing.

Neighbors described Jervis' behavior as being "out of control" after he rammed the SUV, and said he continued to yell and curse at the boys following the crash.

"Jervis was out of his mind," said Lanikai resident Marya Grambs, adding that he looked like he wanted to fight the boys.

Grambs pulled the boys away from Jervis. She said the boys appeared frightened and she offered them water and sodas, while Jervis continued to yell near the crash site.

"He was saying, 'You're acting innocent and you know you're not innocent and you keep doing this to my house,'" she said. "And just swearing expletives, expletives, expletives."

Police were at the intersection yesterday, taking photos and examining the skid marks left by the boys' vehicle.

Vandalism, car break-ins and house egging are common in Lanikai, residents said. Jervis' neighbor, Dan Jordan, said mailboxes get hit with baseball bats and houses are often egged. Egg shells could be seen around the neighborhood yesterday.

"I could imagine Gerry was just sick of it," Jordan said. "If it wasn't Gerry that went after them, I might've done the same because I think everybody's sick of it."

Grambs said she's glad the boys were OK, and that she believes the vandalism and break-ins may stop. However, she said she doesn't condone Jervis' behavior.

"The kids almost got killed," Grambs said. "They could've smashed into a wall. You understand that people get angry, but that's vigilante justice and that's never right."

Jervis, 59, an attorney, was among the five trustees of the Bishop Estate who resigned or were forced out after a scandal over mismanagement of the multibillion-dollar trust that funds the Kamehameha Schools.

He resigned in 1999 after the Internal Revenue Service threatened to revoke the estate's tax-exempt status if the board was not removed.

Jervis was involved in a scandal with a trust lawyer who killed herself the day after they were found having sex in a restroom at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.

Jervis was later hospitalized after overdosing on sleeping pills.

http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/09/news/story03.html

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March 12, 1999

Jervis recovering
after overdose

Bishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis
is hospitalized after taking an
overdose of sleeping pills

Details were about to be revealed of
a sexual encounter in a hotel restroom
stall with an estate employee

Rick Daysog and Christine Donnelly
Star-Bulletin

Bishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis remained hospitalized a day after overdosing on sleeping pills as his involvement with a woman who apparently committed suicide last week was about to become public.

The 50-year-old Jervis, who was rushed to Castle Medical Center from his Kailua home around noon yesterday, was expected to recover but intends to take a medical leave of absence from his $843,000-a-year post, according to his lawyer, Ronald Sakamoto. The lawyer said he did not know whether the overdose was intentional.

The overdose came about a week after the death of Bishop Estate lawyer Rene Ojiri Kitaoka, who died from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage of her Kaneohe home on March 3, police said. The night before, Jervis and Kitaoka had been thrown out of the Hawaii Prince Hotel after security guards found them in a compromising position in a stall in a men's restroom, according to a source familiar with the incident.

The two, who had dinner together at a hotel restaurant earlier that night, were identified, photographed and escorted off the premises by the guards, the source said.

Dean Dantsuka, assistant manager of the Hawaii Prince, refused to confirm the report, referring all queries to Kelly Conmey of MacNeil Wilson Communications. She also declined comment.

Sakamoto said yesterday that there was a basis "for the reported incident" but that some of the details had been inaccurately described. He declined to elaborate.

The lawyer said Jervis was "saddened and distraught" by Kitaoka's death.

Her husband, Scott Kitaoka, did not return phone messages last night. According to police reports, he found his wife in her car while it was running in their enclosed garage. She did not leave a note.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and police have classified the case a suicide pending toxicology results. Besides her husband, she is survived by parents Jerry and Laura Ojiri and sister Donna Ojiri.

Kekoa Paulsen, a spokesman for the Bishop Estate, said that co-workers regarded the 39-year-old Kitaoka, who was born on Maui, as a bright and hardworking employee.

A 1984 graduate of Georgetown Law School, she came to the Bishop Estate from the Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright law firm and later became general counsel for the estate's for-profit Kamehameha Investment Corp. subsidiary. At KIC, she worked with Jervis, who was chairman of the company.

Sakamoto said he would ask the trustees of the multibillion dollar estate for a medical leave for Jervis. Still at issue was whether the events would force Jervis to resign permanently. But even his temporary absence would add new pressures to a boardroom already fraught with tension.

Jervis and fellow trustee Oswald Stender are seeking the removal of fellow trustee Lokelani Lindsey for alleged breaches of trust. Jervis -- along with trustees Lindsey, Richard "Dickie" Wong and Henry Peters -- are also the target of a temporary removal petition by state Attorney General Margery Bronster, who has been investigating allegations of financial mismanagement by trustees.

The attorney general's office also reportedly had inquired into Jervis' alleged involvement with Kitaoka. And Jervis was aware reporters had been looking into it.

Jervis, a Bishop Estate trustee since 1994, is the youngest member of the five-member board. A trial attorney by training, Jervis is considered a political insider and is a longtime associate for former Gov. John Waihee.

A 1979 graduate of the University of Hawaii Law School, he served on the powerful Judicial Selection Commission. He also is a past member of the UH Board of Regents.

Jervis's wife, Avis, was with him at the hospital yesterday and did not return requests for comment.

But longtime friends and associates expressed total surprise at the events.

"He is a very dear friend and this is a complete shock. I have nothing more to say right now," said William Boyle, a Kailua Realtor and partner with Jervis in a Big Island housing venture.

Retired Circuit Judge Patrick Yim, who was the estate's fact-finder during the campus controversy, declined to speculate how the developments might impact the legal battle being fought at the Bishop Estate.

"I'm as surprised as you are and probably as surprised as everyone else in Honolulu," Yim said.

http://starbulletin.com/1999/03/12/news/story1.html

September 30, 1997

Trouble dogs project
by Bishop trustee

Lawsuits and delays plague
the 50-home Kona subdivision

By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin

When Bishop Estate Trustee Gerard Jervis and Kailua Realtor William Boyle formed White Hat Development Corp. in 1992, they envisioned themselves as good guys riding to the rescue of the affordable housing problem.

But these days, the partners have been busy rescuing their company from creditors.

Bank of Hawaii sued White Hat in August, alleging then that the company -- which is developing a 50-unit, affordable housing project in North Kona called University Heights West -- didn't make interest or principal payments on a 90-day, $50,000 loan that was due in February.

That suit came after R.M. Towill Corp. sued White Hat in June, saying it made "repeated demands" of the developers to pay $81,160.83 plus interest for engineering services that Towill conducted in 1994 and 1995.

The complaints recently were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that they could be brought back if payments aren't made. White Hat said the suits shouldn't have been filed in the first place and were the result of miscommunication between the creditors and their outside attorneys. White Hat said they're in the process of paying back the debts.

Jervis, White Hat's president and director, said that he has played a limited role in the development company since becoming a Bishop Estate trustee in 1994. He said he has been winding down his outside interest during the past 21/2 years but found it difficult to step away from White Hat since its development was already under way.

"This is a private matter," Jervis said. "There's no connection (to Bishop Estate)."

But one longtime Bishop Estate observer said the suits against Jervis's private company raises questions about how the trustee manages Bishop Estate's affairs -- a point that Jervis dismissed as an "offensive leap of logic."

"It's surprising that a trustee would be involving in that much litigation involving his own private interests," said Desmond Byrne. "If a trustee is involved in a bunch of lawsuits on their own deals, it raises a red flag."

The litigation is the latest obstacle faced by the project, which is years delayed.

About four years ago, the developers began marketing the project -- which is located on a 19-acre hillside strip near Keahole Airport -- and took reservations from about 350 prospective home buyers for 109 homes that they then planned to build, according to William Boyle, White Hat's vice president and director.

The company -- which paid $1.06 million in 1995 for the project's land after holding it under options for several years -- also sought a joint venture partner to help finance construction.

But when the Big Island real estate market went south in the early 1990s, the developers put the initial sales effort on hold. The downturn also made it difficult to attract partners, Boyle said.

"Everybody expressed disappointment that the project didn't work (then) but there haven't been a lot of (affordable) projects that have worked in west Hawaii," said Suzanne Patterson, Realtor and co-owner of the Prudential West Hawaii Realty, the listing agent for the project. "But this is going ahead."

Boyle said the developers have made the project more attractive by doubling lot sizes and reducing the number of homes to 50.

Prices for fee-simple, two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes at University Heights West start at $139,900 and top at $175,500. The lots ranging from 10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet, according to a sales brochure.

Boyle said that there is strong demand for affordable housing in Kona and said about 80 percent of the project's 50 units already have been reserved by prospective buyers, who have submitted downpayments of about $1,000.

A recent study by The Prudential Locations Inc. shows that there are only six months of housing inventory for three-bedroom homes under $175,000 in the greater Kailua-Kona area.

"This is an exceptional, meritorious project," Boyle said. "We've made this an attractive project."

According to Boyle, the company hopes to get its construction loan by next month and plans to break ground soon after.

Boyle and Jervis both said that building will be financed by sales and the construction loan.

They both stressed that Bishop Estate has not invested any money in University Heights West nor have estate staffers worked on behalf of the project.

Bishop Estate declined comment, saying it has no involvement with White Hat. The estate referred all questions about White Hat to Jervis.

Boyle noted that the University Heights West project is unrelated to the 500-acre University of Hawaii Kona campus that was planned by the Waihee administration in the early 1990s. The campus, which lies next door to the White Hat project, has been put on the back burner by the Cayetano administration due to cost concerns.

Jervis is a long-time ally of former Gov. John Waihee and served on the state Judicial Selection Commission in the Waihee years.

Boyle said that the two suits against White Hat were due to a miscommunication between the creditors and their outside attorneys who filed the suits. He noted that White Hat is working to resolve the debts with Towill and Bank of Hawaii....

http://starbulletin.com/97/09/30/business/index.html

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January 10, 2003

Charitable trust settles
political investigation

Kamehameha Schools agrees
to pay a $10,000 fine

By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin

The Kamehameha Schools has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to settle the state Campaign Spending Commission's 2 1/2-year-old investigation into the estate's political activities.

Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the $6 billion charitable trust agreed to settle with the commission, ending the only remaining investigation of the Kamehameha Schools' former trustees Henry Peters, Richard "Dickie" Wong, Lokelani Lindsey, Oswald Stender and Gerard Jervis. The fine, which will be paid to the Hawaii Election Campaign Trust Fund, requires the approval of the commission's five-member board, which will meet on Thursday.

Kamehameha Schools' Chief Executive Hamilton McCubbin said the agreement avoids a costly, protracted legal battle and will allow the trust to focus resources on its educational mission.

"It resolves one of the last remaining issues relating to the former management of the trust," McCubbin said.

Bob Watada, the commission's executive director, said he did not seek a larger fine against Kamehameha Schools since the former trustees who took part in the political activities have resigned and the estate's current managers and board of trustees have implemented significant reforms.

Watada also noted that former staffers such as the late Namlyn Snow, who headed the government relations division, have either died or have left the trust, while recipients of the estate's political support such as former state Sens. Milton Holt and Marshall Ige have been convicted of criminal charges.

"I think it's clear the Kamehameha Schools has taken steps to make sure that they don't get involved in political campaigns," Watada said.

The commission began its investigation in April 2000, looking into more than $200,000 in polling that the trust conducted on behalf of several prominent state lawmakers during the 1990s.

The commission also was looking into tens of thousands of dollars in political fund-raising tickets that the trust funneled to its employees and outside contractors.

Watada said evidence included in more than 40,000 pages of internal trust documents and witness interviews indicated that the trust operated an in-house network that distributed fund-raiser tickets to trustees and their relatives, staffers and to the estate's engineering, architecture and law firms.

Recipients included Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, former Mayor Frank Fasi, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and former Honolulu City Councilman Arnold Morgado.

Under federal tax law, charities like the Kamehameha Schools can lose their tax-exempt status for making political contributions.

In the early 1990s the trust also hired a pollster, QMark Research & Polling, to conduct political research in the districts of their biggest legislative supporters, including former state House Speaker Joe Souki and former state Sens. Holt, Ige, Robert Herkes, Donna Ikeda and Whitney Anderson.

The estate's former trustees had argued that the polls were conducted to gauge public sentiment on controversial issues such as land use and leasehold reform in those districts.

But Watada noted that the polls also asked specific questions about candidates the trustees supported.

The polls were delivered to the legislators in unmarked envelopes in an apparent attempt to conceal their source, he added.

Neither the trust nor the candidates declared the polls as campaign contributions as required by law. A poll is considered a campaign contribution if its findings are shared with a limited number of candidates and if its value exceeds $1,000.

http://starbulletin.com/2003/01/10/news/story5.html

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Ronald Sakamoto is expected to testify as regarding his business, professional and personal relationships with Gerard Jervis, David Banmiller, Aloha Airlines, John Waihee; Frank Fasi; Kenneth Hipp; Henry Peters; Richard Wong; Jeffrey Stone; Nathan Aipa; Colleen Wong; Namlyn Snow; Louanne Kam; Guido Giacometti; Susan Tius; Milton Holt; Bank of Honolulu, Diane Plotts, Bob Awana, Sukamto Sia; Rocco Sansone, Marsh & McLennan, Inc.; W.R. Grace Co; R.M. Towill Corp; Chubb Group; Carlyle Group; Paul Alston; Randy Roth; William S. Richardson; Rey Graulty; Faye Kurren; Edward Y.C. Chun; The Nature Conservancy; Judge Barry Kurren; Gary Rodrigues; Alvin Shim; OHA; Clayton Hee; Al Hee; William McCorriston; Colbert Matsumoto; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Maui County Council; Judith Neustadter Fuqua; Mary Lou Woo; Steven Guttman; Frank Fasi, Carol Muranaka, Sherry Broder, James Nicholson, David C. Farmer, Michael Nauyokas, and others to be named upon discovery.