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

~ ~ ~

MATSUO TAKABUKI

Former Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate Trustee; Director, Mid-Ocean Reinsurance Company; Co-investor with the Estate in McKenzie Methane and other enterprises. Matsuo Takabuki was a member of the 442^nd Combat Regiment, along with Senator Dan Inouye.

c/o Matt A. Tsukazaki, Esq.
Torkildson Katz Fonseca Jaffe Moore & Hetherington
AmFac Tower, 700 Bishop Street, Floor 15
Honolulu, HI 96813

~ ~ ~

JULY 24, 2009

Jersey Mayors Stung in Graft Probe

By AMIR EFRATI, SUZANNE SATALINE and DIONNE SEARCEY

New Jersey has never been short of corruption scandals, but the one that unfolded yesterday was surprising even by the standards of the state that inspired "The Sopranos."

View Slideshow

Federal agents swept across New Jersey and New York on Thursday, charging 44 people -- including mayors, rabbis and even one alleged trafficker in human kidneys -- in a decade long investigation into public corruption and international money laundering.

The key to the investigation: a real-estate developer who became an informant after being arrested on bank-fraud charges in 2006, according to a person familiar with the case. The developer, Solomon Dwek, wore a wire for the Federal Bureau of Investigation while offering to bribe New Jersey mayors and other public officials, that person said.

A lawyer for Mr. Dwek didn't respond to requests for comment.

While the state has a long history of dirty politics -- in Newark alone, three ex-mayors have been convicted of crimes unrelated to the latest sweep -- the scale of the allegations shocked veterans of New Jersey's political crises....

The arrests place an added burden on Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat in his first term who is running for re-election this year. Mr. Corzine ran four years ago promising to quash corruption. "The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated," he said in a statement....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124835404608875685.html

~ ~ ~

(Catbird Note: New Jersey is the home of The Chubb Group!)* * * * *

NEW DISCOVERIES (07-06-09):

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + ALOHA AIRLINES

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + CENTRAL PACIFIC BANK

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + FIRST HAWAIIAN BANK

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + GOLDMAN SACHS

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + HONFED BANK

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + MARSH & McLENNAN

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + McKENZIE METHANE

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + MID-OCEAN REINSURANCE

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + BARACK OBAMA

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + BILL CLINTON

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + HUNG WO CHING

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + ROBERT RUBIN

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + DAN INOUYE

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + DANIEL AKAKA

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + COLBERT MATSUMOTO

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + CHINN HO

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + JOHN WAIHEE

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + BEN CAYETANO

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + SUKAMTO SIA

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + CHRIS HEMMETER

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + DIANE PLOTTS

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + DAVID C. FARMER

GOOGLING FOR MATSUO TAKABUKI + BOBBY N. HARMON

* * * * *

September 9, 1998

From plantation
to power: Matsuo
Takabuki and Hawaii

Tracking the former Bishop Estate
trustee's life is an exercise rich in history

By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin

His nomination as a Bishop Estate trustee in 1971 sparked protests by native Hawaiians, who called it a political payoff, angry that a non-Hawaiian was selected.

But when Matsuo Takabuki retired from the estate more than two decades later, he was revered as a kupuna or elder who, as former Bishop Estate trustee Myron "Pinky" Thompson put it, "was as Hawaiian as anyone around here."

In its 113-year history, few have left a bigger imprint on the daily operations of the Bishop Estate. During his tenure, the trust evolved from a land-rich, cash-poor charity that barely met the expenses of the estate-run Kamehameha Schools to a multibillion-dollar conglomerate whose vast holdings span three continents.

The estate, the isles' largest private landowner, today boasts a 10 percent stake in Goldman Sachs Group, which is worth between $2 billion and $4 billion. The estate also owns hundreds of thousands of acres of timberland in upper Michigan and condominium complexes in Las Vegas, and has an interest in a mainland China bank.

Investment decisions made by this former trustee will end up paying for the education of hundreds of native Hawaiian children for years to come.

"I give him high marks for supporting the intentions of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop," said Senior U.S. District Judge Samuel King, who once represented a Kamehameha Schools graduate who sued the estate over Takabuki's appointment.

"I think he was supportive of Hawaiians and did a good job on the educational end of the estate."...

In many ways, Takabuki's storied career exemplifies Hawaii's transformation from a plantation-based society prior to World War II to a Pacific Rim economic power.

Takabuki, now 75, documents many of his experiences in a 237-page autobiography entitled "An Unlikely Revolutionary: Matsuo Takabuki and the Making of Modern Hawaii" (University of Hawaii Press, $20).

Written with UH professor Dennis Ogawa, author Glen Grant and attorney Wilma Sur, the book details the formative events in Takabuki's life, starting with his childhood as a nisei growing up in rural Waialua, his experiences in World War II as a member of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II and his 16 years as a member of the Honolulu City Council, then known as the Board of Supervisors.

Takabuki, who retired from the estate in 1993, said he was more interested in documenting the sweeping economic and political changes that transformed Hawaii during his lifetime than in writing an exhaustive account of his life.

As a result, the book doesn't do justice to the rich history that Takabuki witnessed and helped shape. Readers looking for an insider's account of former Gov. John Burns' administration or of events surrounding the Bishop Estate during the past two decades will be disappointed.

The book also does not directly address the current controversy that has engulfed the Bishop Estate and Kamehameha Schools....

In their 1985 landmark study "Land and Power in Hawaii," authors George Cooper and Gavan Daws argued that nisei politicians like Takabuki personally prospered as a result of their newfound power. The Democrats of Takabuki's era revamped the state's land-use laws during the 1950s and 1960s in ways that allowed them and their supporters to acquire huge landholdings.

Takabuki also benefited from his relationship with Burns when state Supreme Court justices -- all Burns appointees -- nominated him to the Bishop Estate board, according to Cooper....

The Bishop Estate years

During his 21 years as a Bishop Estate trustee, Takabuki was no stranger to controversy. But his autobiography either ignores or glosses over the uncomfortable legal battles that would have a big impact on the way the estate does business.

The book briefly mentions his titanic courtroom battles with former trustee and Aloha Airlines head Hung Wo Ching, who died in 1996. In a 1980 federal court complaint, Ching alleged that Takabuki convinced the estate to acquire its current Kawaiahao Plaza headquarters to bail out a developer.

Ching's suit also called into question the competence of the three remaining trustees -- Thompson, Richard Lyman and Frank Midkiff -- who backed Takabuki.

The complaint, which was moved to the state courts, eventually was thrown out by the Supreme Court in 1985. Takabuki said Kawaiahao Plaza is now worth four times the amount the estate originally paid for the building.

And Takabuki's memoirs make only a veiled reference to the McKenzie Methane Inc. fiasco. The estate posted an $85 million loss in the Houston-based oil and gas venture in 1989 after it went into bankruptcy protection.

The bankruptcy proceedings also revealed that Takabuki and then-trustees Thompson, Henry Peters, Lyman and former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Richardson invested more than $2 million of their personal money in the venture.

Much of the losses have been reversed since the estate assumed control of the company. But estate critics cite the trustees' personal investment in the McKenzie Methane deal as a conflict of interest.

The estate contends that the McKenzies, the Texas family that founded the venture, misappropriated the estate's money. But the family said the estate and Takabuki conducted a hostile takeover of their company.

Takabuki now says that the estate and its partners were fooled by the McKenzies. He said the trustees and Bishop Estate employees, who invested in McKenzie Methane through an investment known as HAK Partnerships, were simply going along for the ride.

Takabuki denied charges of self-dealing and said that the investments in the HAK partnerships were structured differently.

Said [Samuel] King, one of five co-authors of last year's "Broken Trust" article that criticized Bishop Estate trustees for mismanaging trust assets: "He got them into high-risk ventures, and most of them may have paid off. But his philosophy of investing was not clearly the philosophy that a trustee should follow.

"He deserves all the kudos he gets, and he deserves all the criticism he gets."

http://starbulletin.com/98/09/09/news/story2.html

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (04-27-09): Undisclosed conflicts of interests between David Farmer, Warren Price, Sharon Himeno, Matsuo Takabuki, etc.:

~ ~ ~

From Land and Power in Hawaii, by George Cooper and Gavan Daws:

Chapter 10: Oahu - Salt Lake

... Another sub-set of connections arose with city planning commissioners who voted to approve apartment zoning for Salt Lake, and later acquired a financial interest in the development. Commissioner Stanley T. Himeno in December 1964 seconded a motion to approve large-acreage apartment zoning around the lake. A year later he was among the first to buy into this acreage.

Commissioner Henry C.H. Chun Hoon in 1957 voted on a master plan for Salt Lake that included 40 acres for apartments. With a business partner in 1966 he bought two apartment-zoned lots within the area. At the time of purchase he was a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals....

* * *

As for actual sitting councilmen, a number of time in the late 1960s and early 1970s, George Koga, Clesson Chikasuye and Matsuo Takabuki voted on master development plans for Salt Lake that included land owned by themselves, their secretaries, and Chikasuye’s father. They also voted for capital improvements and other zoning masters that had the effect of enhancing their investments.

Never during these votes were the investments disclosed...

~ ~ ~

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

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 (07-08-08): E-mail regarding witness Judge Susan Oki Mollway:

Check out James B. Nicholson, Trustee vs. Harmon - Witness Judge Susan Oki Mollway

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 4:43 PM

From: Mutant Ninja Cats

Re:

James B. Nicholson, Trustee vs. Harmon - Witness Judge Susan Oki Mollway

FYI: Susan Oki, Echi Oki, Dan Mollway, Airline Industry, SEC, and the Broken Trust Asian Pacific Bamboo Legacy in collusion with AIPAC Political influence in the powerful influential Defense Appropriation Committee members {Ted Stevens and Duke Cunnigham} under Hawaii U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye's leadership...... and the stealth Political, Economic, and Socialized intents for the pending AKAKA BILL in Congress, documented, again, under "A Confederacy of Dunces" {Forbes}.

Hey CB....this one is the ultimate "insiders" in Hawaii regulatory Government for the Broken Trust cabals linked to the Hawaii Legislature members including their own Federal Reps in Washington protecting their Hawaiian Hui "inside" investors from Southeast Asia to Wall Street:

I talked with the State Ethic's Commissioner / Director, Dan Mollway....Ms. Susan Oki's husband... about the BIG conflicts of interests involving our case against the State DLNR, The Ombudsman Office Director, The DCCA Rico "Investigations" with huge Political cover-ups involving the ANZAI's and the Hawaii Judicial system protecting their own regulatory local hui investors linked to the Bishop Estate Trustees.

Dan Mollway was involved with the "separate" Investigations involving the DLNR Bureau of Conveyance Public land records being ILLEGALLY manipulated and tampered for "Controlled Business" practices by the private sector {Title Guarantee Company employees with Realtors linked to Hoiku Consultant private computers being placed strategically in Public Office Government Buildings linked to the Hawaii Legislature members and the KSBE investments under Headmaster Colbert Matsumoto}.

He claimed that the State Ethics Department was still in the process of their own "separate" investigations {with vague public follow-ups since last year} while the State of Hawaii Attorney General's office conducted their own internal "investigations" in conjunction with a Third Investigations by the Hawaii Legislature members with their Union supported employees!

This again, is the same as a California PYRO MANIAC investigating his own blazing Wild Fire, while creating numerous distracted small fires around the BIG MAIN BON-FIRE, to attention away from his malicious and well calculated deeds!

The gas can {State of Hawaii DLNR Public Forgery Document Executive Order 3117 with a false Public misleading Official GAO Survey Map} with the match {The original suppressed DLNR Legal Access documents} and the remaining evidence with charred ruins {The Hawaiian Airline Pilot's family Bankruptcy proceedings implicating the KSBE and U.S. Trustees mishandling and suppressing the FRAUD} is all their for the "Investigators" conducted by the same Hawaii Buzzards and Vultures linked to the BROKEN TRUST Hawaii Legislature members, again, conducting their own Public Relation separate "investigations" for their Union memberships obtaining bribery gifts and favors {Oriental customs?}; The Hawaii State Ethics Director, linked to the Bamboo network Hawaii Judiciary system Huis with their own separate Public Relation damage control "investigations" to nowhere under the Hawaii AG's Office....promoting a Sovereign Hawaiian Bill, based on Illegal Political Constructive Fraud in Washington {1993 Simple Federal Apology Resolution to Hawaii by Senators Daniel Inouye and Akaka} while ignoring blatant Public Fraud and Political Corruption with OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE with HUGE CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS for: "SOCIAL EQUALITY AND POLITICAL JUSTICE FOR ALL" in Washington......

DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS while Congress protects their own vested interests under the Political Department of Injustice cabals while helping spread American Democracy and American Values in the controversial Middle East and around the World!

Some interesting bit of side notes involving Ms. Susan Oki and her father....a former member of the famed 442 U.S. Military Regiment: My father, a former World War 11 Combat photographer in the South Pacific theatre, was married to a local Japanese during the War. He was a distant Political acquaintance and supporter for Jack Burns in Kailua, Oahu. They both belonged to the Kailua Lions Club and were both members of the private Lanikai Mid-Pacific Country Club....mostly all haole members after the War years.

My father was involved in a very fraudulent Hawaii land purchase and sale during the 1950s involving a corrupt Hawaii land surveyor and a fellow Irishman linked to the Hawaii Judges family members. After he relocated to San Francisco in the early 1960s, he retained a Hawaii attorney whom I believe was none other than Echi Oki.....from Honolulu, linked to the famed 442 Hawaii Military Brigade members whom he always supported due to the persecution of the local Hawaii Japanese community after Pearl Harbor.

Echi Oki, again, had close political links vis-a-vis their Military Service to Dan Inouye and their tight knit Hawaii 442 hui cabals.....prior and after the 1954 Hawaii Legislature Revolution. My father lost the Court case, despite the SELLER testifying in favor of my fathers allegations...... with huge conflicts of interests since the Judge was related to the Hawaii Judge {Taveras}.

Another side Note with the Airline Industry: I was personally involved with the earlier Bankruptcy proceedings with Frontier Airlines in Denver {1986} which later involved Drexel Burnham Wall Street investors linked to Frank Lorenzo and Carl Ichan in New York. Like Mr. Rodney Stich, the FAA investigator making allegations against United Airlines in Denver, I was singled out with several others for exposing blatant FAA rules and blatant Public Safety violations involving massive fraud and corruption benefiting short-cutting - Airline cost saving procedures...comprising massive Public Safety cover-ups and FAA regulatory with damage control omitted issues involving the new non-unionized, young and ignorant work force.

This all began with the across the board firings for the FAA Air Traffic Controllers soon after the Reagan - Bush Sr Tenure came into Office in 1981. The massive Airline De-regulations in Washington vis-a-vis Wall Stree profiteers, {i.e. - Michael Milken, Marc Rich, Ivan Boesky} during the roaring unregulated 1980s which became famous with the Movies: WALL STREET {Michael Douglas} and "BARBARIANS AT THE GATE".

AIPAC'S Norman Brownstein, based in Downtown Denver, vis-a-vis my former Brownstein political mole "girlfriend" , New York attorney Lisa Holstein, was responsible for helping Lorenzo with the Texas Continental Airline gang members to get out of their Prime gate and exclusive lounge commitments, including a faulty Automated Baggage system, involving more massive fraud and cover-ups at the new Denver International Airport were allowed to quietly relocate back to their Houston based "Texas Air Corp" headquarters.

In 1993, Clinton denied Frank Lorenzo, with his New York Attorney wife with Chase Manhattan Bank, as well as their Texas Air Corps - Colorado Resort land investors in Aspen & Vail {Phillip Winn Group}, to continue manipulating the SEC within the confines of the "insiders" under the lucrative "De-Regulated Airline Industry" mergers using Union Pension plans for lucrative leveraged acquisitions....compromising Public Safety and FAA violations with massive cover-ups in Washington.

Again, like former FAA investigator, Rodney Stich, doing his job, I became another Politcial liability, which is the former "inside" Dept of Justice / CIA lawyer, Norman Phillip Brownstein's expertise specialized job as Mr. Fix It at DIA; Protecting SEC Billionaire Fugitive's such as Marc Rich and HUD Director Phil Winn, while sheltering Drug Traffic cabals with Florida's Jack Devoe...for helping AIPAC's Political "cause" in Washington DC into vested SECURITY interests in the secular Middle East.....of course....always using OPM: The defrauded & obliviouos American Public Tax Payers left holding the bag on Wall Street to Main Street.

Brownstein's young, former single AIPAC New York mole attorney, Ms. Lisa Holstein, like others linked to AIPAC and David Steiner, as well as former CIA - U.S. federal prosecutor - Hawaii Public Safety Director, John Peyton, are reported deceased in New York and remote Africa?

The Rocky Mountain High - SILVERADO DNC Political Convention in Denver, Colorado, moving the Public cost over-run to a larger media exposure event with INVESCO Stadium {Bronco Pro Football Stadium...who are clients of NORM BROWNSTEIN, JACK HYATT, AND STEVE FARBER, now joined by former GOP Denver University CABALS - former Colorado RNC Chairman, Commercial Real Estate Investor and Resigned Department of Veterans Affair Director - James "De Oppressor Libre" Nicholson, linked to former Colorado RNC Chair, for convicted Swiss Ambassador - HUD Director - Phil Winn {DU Professor} with former DU Secretary of Interior Gale {CREA} Norton, as well as the latest new GOP University of Colorado connections to former U.S. Senator / UC President Hank Brown....involved in the "E Pluribus Unum" Wall Street article related to: THE 1993 Simple FEDERAL APOLOGY RESOLUTION TO HAWAII under Clinton with Political Constructive FRAUD and Public cover-up intents for the future Public subsidized AKAKA BILL in Congress....pending in Washington since 2000, after the U.S. Supreme Court decision over ruling the Hawaii Political Judicial system hidden under the Political Ninth District Circuit Court of Appeals, involving 'RICE V. CAYETANO' {Office of Hawaiian Affairs}.

Hope this "inside" information and insights can help you!

- little ninja cats with nonprofit coconut crab club

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (05-10-08): David Farmer’s undisclosed connections with AIPAC and “Bush’s Brain”, Karl Rove:

From: little ninja cats

Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 01:26:40 EDT

Subject: Check out The Raw Story | Official probing Rove now under investigation himself

To: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov, senator@akaka.senate.gov, ustrustee.program@usdoj.gov, admin@ehawaii.gov, jurisnot@yahoo.com, bobby_n_harmon@yahoo.com, hwburgess@hawaii.rr.com, Ken_Conklin@yahoo.com, rroth@hawaii.edu}

The Raw Story | Official probing Rove now under investigation himself

"While Rove Fiddled; The Bush was Burning"? or........White men who can't dance?

ck out:

Dismissed U.S. Attorney's Carole Lam {California} and Frederick Black {South Pacific}.

HATCH ACT and the 1978 Hawaii Constitutional Convention:

a} Congressional Defense Appropriation Committee members, previous Bureau of Indian Affair Chairman, Veterans Affair Committees, Intelligence Committees, Special Counsels {Iran - Contra / Central America International Committees} Bishop, Baldwin, REWALD, Dillingham & Wong, for Hawaii U.S. Senator - Daniel Inouye - Defense Chairman linked to: hidden Public Pork Barrel proceeds for the lavish Hokulia Canoe for Hawaiians only programs / Women Abuse Shelters for Two Political Hawaii Legislature members involved in 1992 U.S. Senate race allegations for Sexual Harassment allegations / Private Defense Contractor Brent Wilkes - Hawaii ADSC Company fronts - Lavish Hawaiian Private Vacations - Luxury Private Accommodations - Hawaiian "Entertainment" linked to Asian Pacific Advisory Council Politicians {Prince Hotels} - AIPAC Lobbyist for Akaka Bill; {Dismissed U.S. Attorney - Frederick Black, Political Appointee under former CIA Director / Vice-President / President George H. Bush linked to former U.S. Federal Prosecutors John Peyton - Kenneth Starr in collusion with former Hawaii District Judges {deceased}: Martin Pence, Harold Fong, & California District Judge: Brian Tamahana}.

b} Alaska U.S. Senator - Ted Stevens linked to hidden Public Pork Barrel projects {Bridge To Nowhere} with family member to self serving Alaska Contractors - Home remodeling projects as well as lobbying ANWAR Bill under the Department of Interior {CREA} with members with the Defense Appropriation Committee Political links to members of Congressional Committees {I.E. - Veterans Committee Chairman - Daniel Akaka, sponsor for the stealth Akaka Bill with no Public voice or vote in Hawaii, Obstruction of Justice in the South Pacific {Jack Abramoff - Tom Delay} and the Broken Trust legacy in Hawaii, in political exchanges for continued political support for a Case of War in Iraq and the ANWAR Bill.

c} California Congressman - Duke "Dukestar" Cunningham: Defense Appropriation Committee member - Veterans Affair Committees linked to lavish Political briberies with Private Defense Contractors and CIA agents linked to Iraq War Appropriations in Washington DC, Southern California, and Hawaii lavish vacations - "Entertainment" with obstruction of justice linked to political Dismissed U.S. Attorney Carole Lam, linked to Political dismissed U.S. Attorney Frederick Black in the South Pacific involving Jack Abramoff {AIPAC} linked to Grover Norquist and Tom Delay {CNP - PNAC}.

Aloha Mai Mo. Aloha Aku: Do the Disavowed Facts matter for Special Counsel Scott Bloch with Karl Rove under Alberto Gonzales and the Broken Trust Legacy in Washington DC?

catbirds - south pac

~ ~ ~

From Harmon’s RICO Lawsuit:

From Equity No. 2048, Petition of the Attorney General on Behalf of the Trust Beneficiaries to Remove and Surcharge Trustees:

“The Trustees have been unfaithful to the Will and the purpose of the Trust. They have failed to comply with clear directives of the Will. They have subordinated the sole purpose of the Trust to their personal gain. They have squandered Trust assets intended for education by their excessive compensation, and by imprudent and improper Trust management and investments. They have violated Hawaii statutes and court orders. They have engendered hostility between themselves and the Beneficiaries whose interests the Trustees were appointed to serve.

. . . Peters became lead trustee for asset management in 1993 and assumed responsibility for Trust investments and for due diligence on prospective investments.

Peters as lead trustee purposely withheld information on existing and potential investments from his co-Trustees, dismantled the Trust’s internal audit function, instructed staff employees to withhold information from the co-Trustees, and used his position to approve Trust payment of improper non-Trust expenditures.

. . . As to Peters, the effect of these violations has been that Trust assets have been mismanaged and misspent to the detriment of the Trust purpose.

. . . Trustees Peters, Wong, and Lindsey have violated their duty of loyalty to the Beneficiaries by using their positions as Trustees and by using Trust assets and opportunities to benefit themselves and their relatives and friends.

. . . In 1992, the Trust invested approximately $31 million in Mid Ocean, Ltd. (Mid Ocean), a Bermuda-based insurance company, and acquired 310,000 Mid Ocean Class A shares.

In 1993, when Matsuo Takabuki retired as a Trustee of the Trust, Peters succeeded to Takabuki’s seat as a director of Mid Ocean.

Peters served as a Mid Ocean director until early 1998.

Peters’ service as a Mid Ocean director fell within his duties as Trustee and was a Trust opportunity.

Peters used Trust personnel to prepare him for Mid Ocean directors’ meetings.

While a director of Mid Ocean, Peters received substantial director’s fees and received options to acquire 6,000 shares of Mid Ocean stock.

The Mid Ocean fees and stock options are assets that belong to the Trust and not to Peters individually.

Peters has enriched himself at the expense of the Beneficiaries by retaining the fees and stock options for his personal benefit.

(Note: Marsh & McLennan, and its subsidiary, Guy Carpenter, were major players in the creation and management of Mid-Ocean .)

. . . During his 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1992 political campaigns while a Trustee, Peters used Trust employees to photograph his and his supporters for his campaign materials, in violation of Trust restrictions on political activity by the Trust and its employees.

. . . The Trust presently qualifies as a charitable non-profit entity under the Internal Revenue Code and thus is exempt from federal, state, and local income and other taxes.

Maintaining the tax exempt status is critical to the Trust and its ability to serve its intended purpose.

The Trustees’ duty to protect the interests of the Beneficiaries includes zealously protecting the Trust’s tax-exempt status.

By taking excessive compensation and by using Trust assets for private inurement, the Trustees have imperiled the Trust’s tax-exempt status and hence the full effectuation of the Trust’s purpose.”

Beginning around March 1996, Harmon began questioning what appeared to be excessive premium charges being made by M&M for KSBE’s property insurance, and for the fees M&M was billing to P&C. He again raised the issue of his job transfer from KSBE to P&C.

For the next several months, Plaintiff was subjected to threats, intimidation and various abuses from Aipa and Kam for questioning the excessive fees of M&M and his transfer to P&C. In a meeting in early 1996, with Aipa and Sansone, Harmon asked Aipa about the status of his transfer. Aipa’s response was that it wasn’t going to happen because “arms-length was no longer an issue,” (referring to previous legal opinions from Price Waterhouse that the IRS might revoke the Trust’s tax-exempt status if it did not maintain arms-length from its taxable subsidiaries).

On October 11, 1996, Harmon was called into a meeting with Peters and Aipa. At this meeting, Peters instructed Harmon that he was to report to Aipa on all matters relating to P&C. Peters also stated that he would hold Aipa responsible for all matters relating to P&C. He also informed Harmon that he could be replaced as President of P&C if he failed to follow Aipa’s directives.

On November 20, 1996, Peters made good with his threat and terminated Harmon’s appointment as President of P&C. No explanation was given for the termination.

Harmon was also terminated by Aipa from his position as Risk/Insurance & Safety Manager for KSBE, allegedly due to “differences in philosphy”.

Plaintiff Harmon alleges that a major reason for his terminations was his refusal to follow the directives of Henry Peters, Nathan Aipa and Louanne Kam for to pay M&M substantial fees for work that was not under contract and which was not justified.

These “sweetheart deals” with M&M, and the threats to Harmon that he could be terminated for failing to follow the directives of Peters, Aipa and Kam to “go along” with these improper deals, constitute conspiracy to defraud the beneficiaries of the Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop; racketeering; mail fraud; wire fraud; extortion; breach of fiduciary duties; and violations of the Interim Sanctions provisions of the IRS Code, as detailed in Plaintiff’s complaint.

www.kycbs.net/RICO-BH.htm

~ ~ ~

March 5, 1998

The Bishop trustee will
not seek re-election as a director
of the firm in which the estate
is a big shareholder

By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin

Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters is stepping down as director of Mid Ocean Ltd., a Bermuda-based reinsurance company in which the estate is a big shareholder.

Peters -- whose role at Mid Ocean has come under the scrutiny of state Attorney General Margery Bronster in her investigation of the estate -- said he recently decided not to seek re-election to Mid Ocean's board of directors due to time constraints.

His term expires at Mid Ocean's annual shareholders meeting, which was to be held today.

A Mid Ocean board member since 1993, Peters said his workload at Bishop Estate and other corporations made it difficult to serve on Mid Ocean's board. But he said he was comfortable leaving the board at this time given the company's current management.

The announcement comes as Bronster has subpoenaed documents relating to Bishop Estate's investment in Mid Ocean.

The attorney general is investigating charges of financial mismanagement and breaches of fiduciary duties by individual Bishop Estate trustees. Sources say the state may be delving into Peters' investments in Mid Ocean.

Mid Ocean, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, is a publicly traded company that sells coverage to insurance companies, enabling the insurers to spread their risk.

Bishop Estate is Mid Ocean's fourth-largest shareholder behind Bermuda-based EXEL Ltd., the Scudder, Stevens & Clark Inc. investment company and the Wall Street firm of Oppenheimer Group Inc. The charitable trust's 1.86 million shares represent 5.16 percent of the company's 36.1 million outstanding common shares.

Since 1993, Mid Ocean has granted Peters options to acquire 4,500 shares of Mid Ocean stock under its long-term compensation plan for outside directors, according to a 1996 proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those options would be worth more than $266,000 based on Mid Ocean's closing price of $59.13 yesterday.

Peters and other outside directors also earned $30,000 each in the form of Mid Ocean stock and deferred shares last year, according to Mid Ocean's proxy statement for its 1997 fiscal year.

Outside directors received an additional $3,000 for each board meeting attended and $1,500 for each committee meeting attended. Peters was present at at least six board and committee meetings in 1997.

The Mid Ocean director's fees are on top of the $843,109 in commissions Peters received as a Bishop Estate trustee for the year ending June 30, 1996.

Peters took issue with recent criticism about his Mid Ocean stock options. He said he has not exercised the options, which were offered to all of Mid Ocean's outside directors.

He said the options were not given to directors for free: Directors must acquire them at market prices and can only sell them after a set time period.

"I haven't even looked at them," Peters said.

To be sure, Bishop Estate's investment in Mid Ocean has been successful.

The estate's initial investment of $31 million in 1992 is now worth about $110 million.

Last year, the estate earned nearly $5.6 million in dividends from its Mid Ocean stock, or more than double the $2.5 million in dividends it received in fiscal year 1996.

Critics argue that Peters' stock options in Mid Ocean raise the appearance of a conflict of interest given Bishop Estate's big stake in Mid Ocean.

Randall Roth, University of Hawaii law professor and co-author of the "Broken Trust" article that prompted the state's investigation of the estate, believes that co-investing should be avoided by trustees of Bishop Estate.

Roth said he wasn't familiar with the details of Peters' role in Mid Ocean. But he noted that the estate's internal guidelines forbid trustees from placing personal money in trust investments.

The issue of Peters' Mid Ocean stock options has raised questions within the estate's board room. Fellow trustees weren't aware of the options until media reports criticizing the awards surfaced in September, sources have said.

Consequently, board members told Peters to not exercise the options and said he should not receive future director's fees, sources said.

He has not returned past director's compensation.

The estate is studying ways to transfer ownership of Peters' Mid Ocean stock options to Kamehameha Schools.

"Arguably, this creates an appearance of a conflict of interest if not an (actual) conflict of interest," Roth said.

"A trustee is supposed to avoid even the appearance of a conflict."

http://starbulletin.com/98/03/05/news/story3.html

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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.

Honolulu Advertiser

http://www.kycbs.net/EXHIBIT-Dooley-HA-2-8-8.htm

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.

Honolulu Advertiser

http://www.kycbs.net/EXHIBIT-Dooley-HA-2-9-8.htm

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Matsuo Takabuki is expected to testify with regard to his relationships with Dan Inouye; Norman Mineta; Colbert Matsumoto, Jeffrey Watanabe, Masayuki Takioka, Lionel Takioka, Island Insurance Company, National Mortgage & Finance Ltd., John Burns, John Waihee, Nathan Aipa, Colleen Wong, Louanne Kam, Lyn Anzai, Earl Anzai, Eric Martinson, Bruce Nakaoka, Neil Hannahs, Sam Hata, Peter Savio, Michael Chun, Ben Benson, The Nature Conservancy, Faye Kurren, Oswald Stender, Frank Carlucci, Robert Katz, Carlyle Group, Dennis Fern, Kukui Inc., Evan Dobelle, University of Hawaii Foundation, Art Woolaway, Wayne Rogers, Kona Enterprises, Michael Hare, Rodney Park, Maryanne Inouye, Wally Chin, John Sinnott, Marsh & McLennan, Inc., Mark McConaghy, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Ben Benson, The MacArthur Foundation, Adele Smith Simmons, WCI Communities, Kona Enterprises, Robert Dole, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, Hanford Enterprises, James Duffy, Benjamin Matsubara, Ace Ltd., Mid-Ocean Reinsurance, Centre Re, Royal SunAmerica, Orion Capital Holdings, Zurich Financial, Bank of New York, First Boston Bank, HonFed Financial, Investor’s Equity Life Insurance, Executive Life Insurance, Michael McKenzie, McKenzie Methane, Guido Giacometti, Sukamto Sia, Bank of Honolulu, Chris Hemmeter, Diane Plotts, Bob Awana, Gilbert Tam, Mitch Gilbert, Bank of Hawaii, Investcorp, APCOA Parking, William S. Simon, Goldman Sachs, Robert Rubin, Charles Harmon, Sumitomo Bank, Central Pacific Bank, Mitsui Bank, Crossroads Group, Blackstone Group, Azabu USA Inc., Brad K. Heppner, John G. Rowland, BDM Holdings, Fredrick V. Malek, Ben F. Andrews, Wayne L. Berman, Lawrence Landry, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, Seibu Railroad, Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Bedford Properties, Kevin Showe, Jeffrey Stone, Gensiro Kawamoto, Paul Alston, Carol Asai-Sato, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, CB Richard Ellis, YY Valley Corporation, Gene Lum, Nora Lum, Ron Brown, Judge Susan Oki Mollway, Judge Michael Seabright, Sharon Himeno, David C. Farmer, Chinn Ho, Stuart Ho, Aloha Airlines, President Barack Obama, and others to be named upon discovery.