Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM
January 21, 2005
VIA facsimile @ (808) 529-7177
and e-mail: sguttman@kdubm.com
Mr. Steven Guttman, Esq.
Kessner Duca Umebayashi Bain & Matsunaga
220 South King Street, 19th Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813
RE: Claims Against Mary Lou Woo and Steven Guttman, Esq., et al.
Bankruptcy Case No. 99-04339
Dear Mr. Guttman:
It has now been 90 days since my letter to you dated October 21, 2004, in which I offered to attempt to negotiate an out-of-court global settlement of all claims related to this case in order to avoid further costs and delays in settling the bankruptcy estate. I had hoped that my offer would be accepted so that we could quickly and effectively settle all outstanding issues, and I could avoid having to pursue these claims on an entity-by-entity and case-by-case basis.
Since, however, I have not received a response from either you or your professional liability insurance carrier, it appears that I have no choice at this time but to further describe my case against you, your law firm, and Trustee Mary Lou Woo, as it relates to racketeering and to errors and omissions arising from your handling of the referenced bankruptcy case. To begin this description, I refer you to your letter dated December 20, 1999, addressed to Judge Barry M. Kurren (AAA Exhibit 13), in which you write, in pertinent part:
“The Trustee broached the subject of having a global settlement conference with bankruptcy counsel for Bishop Estate, Susan Tius. There is pending litigation in the Hawaii First Circuit Court and there is the threat of further litigation occurring before the Bankruptcy Court. The Trustee understands there had been an attempt by the parties to settle the litigation but the monetary demand of Mr. Harmon was substantially in excess of the amount the various defendants were prepared to pay. The Trustee, subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, has independent discretion to settle the claims....”
“In addition to Bishop Estate, Roy Hughes, who was retained by Mr. Harmon’s homeowner’s insurer, Island Insurance Company, Ltd., has been asked to participate. We further requested Lissa Andrews, counsel for Federal Insurance Co. to take part in the settlement discussions. As of December 17, Federal Insurance had not given Ms. Andrews authorization to attend but she was going to further discuss the matter with her client. The position of Federal Insurance is that they were dismissed from the Federal action. I have emphasized to Ms. Andrews that her client’s participation may be a key part of reaching a global settlement. A discussion has also occurred with Robert Miller, the attorney for Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. The response of Marsh was similar to the reaction of Federal Insurance. Mr. Miller already had a planned mainland trip. No one will be present on behalf of Marsh at the December 22 settlement conference.
“The original Federal action named various other parties. As to some of them, it is not clear to the Trustee that they had any potential liability. Further, various parties have been dismissed from the action. Mr. Harmon’s non-bankruptcy attorney, Arnold Phillips, has questioned the scope of Judge Ezra’s Dismissal Order. The Trustee has made the decision not to invite everyone who was name as a part to the litigation to the settlement conference.
“The Bankruptcy Petition was filed by Gregory Dunn. Subsequently, Mr. Dunn has brought in Bradley Tamm to assist. Mr. Tamm has been informed of the settlement conference. We do not know whether either Mr. Dunn or Mr. Tamm will be present this coming Wednesday.
“The Trustee understands that the Bishop Estate Defendants intend to provide the court with a detailed summary of the litigation. The Trustee recognizes that you are familiar with the allegations in the Federal lawsuit. The short version of the State Court litigation is that it appears Mr. Harmon had a valid whistleblower legal claim John Goemans was his attorney of record in the Hawaii State Circuit Court action. For reasons unknown to the Trustee and apparently to Mr. Harmon, Mr. Goemans did not file a responsive pleading to the Summary Judgment Motion filed by the Bishop Estate. Absent an opposition pleading, Mr. Harmon’s affirmative claims before the State Court were dismissed. Due to the pending Bishop Estate’s claims, a final Judgment for purposes of an appeal has not been entered. Mr. Philips has questioned whether the claim can be revived. The question for an appeal is whether a party whose attorney fails to respond will receive a second chance to prosecute the dismissed action....
“As to the Federal lawsuit, the Trustee understands that Mr. Harmon is setting forth the following claims: RICO violation, wrongful termination claims, insurance bad faith claims, and Bishop Estate Trustee misconduct claims. While Mr. Harmon is quite interested in the Trustee misconduct claims, it is not clear to the Trustee that he has standing to present them. However, some of the allegations regarding misconduct interplay with the other claims being made by Mr. Harmon in the lawsuit.
“The Trustee believes that Mr. Harmon has a valid claim for being improperly terminated. The circumstances of the termination and whether it rises to a RICO claim particularly in light of what was occurring with certain insurance policies, is an issue that will require significant expenditure of time and money to resolve if there is no settlement
“The base claim originating from the employment termination as to lost wages and benefits appear to total approximately $365,000. If these damages qualify under RICO, there is a triple damage liability in addition to paying for the attorneys’ fees and costs and interest on the $365,000 principal balance. For RICO, the predicate act is the improper discharge. For settlement purposes, the Trustee will accept the direct damages of $365,000 that Mr. Harmon could prove as his lost wages and benefit package with Bishop Estate.”
< END OF QUOTATION >
Here, briefly, from this one letter, are just some of the “wrongful acts” (as defined in most professional liability insurance policies) that I find that you and Trustee Mary Lou Woo have committed in the handling of this case:
► You state that the Trustee broached the subject of having a global settlement conference with bankruptcy counsel for Bishop Estate, Susan Tius. As I have claimed in many previous letters, I learned from outside sources that Trustee Woo has had a long-standing professional working relationship with Susan Tius; thus there was an undisclosed conflict-of-interest between Ms. Tius and Ms. Woo from the beginning of this case.
► Susan Tius is the wife of Guido Giacometti, who was an executive at Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate during the time I was employed there, and he is mentioned in my RICO lawsuit as one of the executives who co-invested, along with the Estate and other Trustees and employees, in the highly controversial and questionable McKenzie Methane deal - described in detail in my RICO lawsuit at www.the-catbird-seat.net/RICO-BH.htm , and in even greater detail at www.the-catbird-seat.net/Methane.htm. This is another improper, and undeclared, conflict-of-interest as it relates to my case.
► Guido Giacometti was also the bankruptcy Trustee for Indonesian developer, and major stockholder in the now-defunct Bank of Honolulu, Sukamto Sia. During the time Mr. Giacometti was an executive for Bishop Estate, Sukamto Sia was a majority owner of Executive Center in Honolulu, which was on Bishop Estate leasehold land. The Sukamto Sia case is described in my RICO lawsuit at www.the-catbird-seat.net/RICO-BH.htm, and in even greater detail at www.the-catbird-seat.net/IndonesianConnection.htm.
► While Guido Giacometti was employed by Bishop Estate, another leasehold tenant, directly across the street from the Executive Center, was Jake’s Restaurant and Bar. A principal owner of this restaurant was, to the best of my knowledge, Jeffrey Stone - the same individual who was indicted, along with former Bishop Estate Trustees Henry Peters and Richard Wong, for questionable real estate transactions involving Bishop Estate properties. Trustee Wong was married to Jeff Stone’s sister, and is currently a partner with Jeff Stone in the billion-dollar real estate development at Ko `Olina - which is described in my RICO lawsuit at www.the-catbird-seat.net/RICO-BH.htm, and which is updated in greater detail at www.the-catbird-seat.net/Ko-Olina.htm.
► Susan Tius was also one of the attorneys involved in the Aloha Tower Associates bankruptcy. Aloha Tower is where we had our business, Orbits Hawaii, and owners were principle Creditors in our bankruptcy. This places Ms. Tius as representing both a Debtor and a Creditor in this case - another undeclared, and improper, conflict-of-interest.
► Since Susan Tius did not represent Bishop Estate, or any of the other Defendants, in my RICO lawsuit, I maintain that she was NOT the proper person to approach on the subject of a global settlement conference. As this was an insured claim, the primary party who should have been contacted, and who should have been the principal coordinator for this case, should have been the licensed claims administrator for Federal Insurance Company, as required under the terms of their liability policy. As also required under their policy, Federal would have been the entity which contracted with, directed, and paid the attorney, or attorneys, selected to defend their Named Insureds. In this instance, this would mean that Susan Tius, Jeffrey Sia, Kenneth Hipp, Robert Katz, and Matt Tsukazaki, ALL should have been reporting to, and paid by, Federal Insurance Company - not by Kamehameha Schools or P&C Insurance Company. Likewise, neither should Nathan Aipa, Louanne Kam, Colleen Wong, Clyde Mark, or any other employee of Kamehameha Schools or P&C Insurance Company, have been directly involved in the handling of this claim, as they would all have obvious conflicts-of-interests in this case.
► There are several remarks in your letter of December 20, 1999, that give further evidence that Trustee Woo failed to bring all parties “to the table” for the settlement negotiations. For example, your statement that, “We further requested Lissa Andrews, counsel for Federal Insurance Co. to take part in the settlement discussions. As of December 17, Federal Insurance had not given Ms. Andrews authorization to attend but she was going to further discuss the matter with her client...,” provides clear evidence that Federal Insurance Company, was not coordinating, or possibly not even participating in, the legal defense of the KSBE trustees and employees in this case.
► If Federal was NOT the key coordinator in this instance, the question which needs to be answered then is, “Who did have the responsibility for coordinating with all parties in the settlement discussions, and in the drafting and execution of the Settlement Agreement?” Likewise, your letter indicates that Marsh & McLennan’s attorney, Robert Miller, “already had a planned mainland trip,” and “No one will be present on behalf of Marsh at the December 22 settlement conference.” As you should know, Marsh & McLennan, having received hundreds of thousands of dollars through bid-rigging, racketeering and illegal kick-backs, was the key culprit and target of my RICO lawsuit and should have, in my opinion, been the entity which contributed the most to the settlement. I consider Trustee Woo’s failure to require a Marsh & McLennan representative to be present at the settlement conference a major error and omission, and a serious breach in her duties as bankruptcy trustee.
► This absence in Federal’s involvement in the settlement discussions is further indication that KSBE and P&C DID NOT REPORT these claims properly, and/or did not follow the terms and conditions of the insurance contract after they were reported. This would be consistent with their actions, or inactions, in many previous lawsuits, as described in my RICO case (www.the-catbird-seat.net/RICO-BH.htm); in my letter to KSBE Master Colbert Matsumoto, (www.the-catbird-seat.net/KSBEMaster.htm); to the IRS, (www.the-catbird-seat.net/IRS-11-10-97.htm; and in other letters to regulatory and law enforcement agencies.
► My objections to the non-reporting of claims to the insurance carriers, and the failure to follow the terms and conditions of insurance policies, were major issues which led to my termination by KSBE and P&C. These issues were also described in my sworn testimony to the Attorney General’s office in their case to remove the former trustees (EQ2048), which is the basis for my Obstruction of Justice claim against the Trustee, your office, and others I have named. In addition to EQ2045, I was also a witness, or potential witness, in other active cases at that time involving Kamehameha Schools, including the Marcia Diver and Laurian Childers lawsuits - the latter case involving threats to Ms. Childers after she had informed the Attorney General’s office that Lokelani Lindsey had allegedly deleted files from her computer that may have been subpoenaed in the AG’s investigation. The attorneys for Laurian and Richard Childers in this case were, according to my information, Charles H. Hurd, Esq. and Christopher S. Woo, Esq. Coincidentally, Charles Hurd was the attorney for Hale O Kaula church in their lawsuit against the County of Maui, and Judith Neustadter Fuqua, the Arbitrator in our case. As you know, I have also asked you if there is any relationship between Christopher S. Woo and Mary Loo Woo, and I have not yet received an answer to this question.*
These are only a few of the arguments that I ultimately wish to present to you related to the Trustee’s handling of this case, but I would prefer to present these arguments in a private, negotiated-settlement conference, rather than through further letters and prolonged court proceedings. My offer to attempt a negotiated settlement, by the way, is still open.
Your prompt response to this letter, and all prior unanswered letters, is respectfully requested.
Very truly yours,
Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM
* For more on the Laurian and Richard Childers case, and the involvement of another Bishop Estate attorney, Howard Luke, see the following news articles:
www.starbulletin.com/97/10/29/news/story2.html; www.starbulletin.com/98/01/27/news/story1.html; www.starbulletin.com/97/10/31/editorial/editorials.html.
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