It's the time of year when the area around City Hall is transformed into a magical winter wonderland of lights and holiday decorations. But along with the usual ornaments at Kawaiahao Plaza they should add one more decoration: yellow tape that says ''Crime Scene. Do Not Cross.'' Gloomy Christmas
at Kawaiahao PlazaKawaiahao Plaza is the home of the beleaguered Bishop Estate, one of the finest private charitable institutions in the country, which has been taken over by corrupt politicians and a good old boy network apparently transported en masse from state government.
Last week, one of Hawaii's most notable politicians, Henry Peters -- former speaker of the state House of Representatives and current Bishop Estate trustee --was busted for theft for allegedly taking part in a real estate kickback deal. This is not the end, folks, it's just the beginning. Trustee Dickie Wong was also implicated in the deal but not indicted, which can either be good or bad for Wong, the former state Senate president. But we'll get to that later.
The estate also is under a number of state and federal investigations, the ultimate results of which likely will make Peter's theft case look like small potatoes. This is going to be a long, hairy ride and by the time it is over, I suspect the operations of the estate will be revealed in sickening detail. It is a sad thing. I've said it before, this is the story of a fine institution high-jacked by a ruthless, greedy band of political operatives, and I'm not just talking about the trustees.
Last week's indictments offer just a glimpse of how a powerful institution is corrupted. It is not good enough that a few well-connected insiders get plum political appointments to a million-dollar-a-year comfy-chair existence. No. They have to make more money in probably every aspect of the estate's business, no matter how small. Want to buy a crummy $20 million condo project on estate land? Well, first you have to set one of the trustees up in a penthouse condo. That's what the current indictment charges. The fact that Peters is a multimillionaire who could buy a dozen of the same condo units he was upgraded to shows the financial pettiness involved.
And that's why I think that they ought to wrap Kawaiahao Plaza in yellow tape and seal all the doors and windows. The place is a crime scene.
Way back when, there was a guy named Ron Rewald who bilked Hawaii investors out of $22 million in a glorified Ponzi scheme. The first thing investigators did -- even before actually charging Rewald with theft -- was send over a court-appointed trustee to change the locks and secure the files.
The state attorney general's office and the IRS are investigating offenses at Bishop Estate that could make Rewald look like a piker. So why are they wasting time arguing in court about subpoenaing documents and forcing estate officials to testify? The trustees under investigation and their minions have access to all the files, memos and evidence of their possible crimes. Everyone is presumed innocent in court until proven guilty. But that shouldn't stop the attorney general from preventing the loss of possible evidence in order to protect the beneficiaries' interests.
With the indictment of Peters exposing just one alleged criminal act connected to estate business, authorities now must do everything to assure the integrity of the records is preserved. If this were any other business in America suspected of such widespread fraud, the files would have been secured months ago.
As for Dickie's non-indictment, it could mean Bronster wants him to roll over on Henry and disclose details of the theft case and possibly others. Unfortunately for Dickie, it also could mean they want Henry to roll over on him.
In either case, these won't be happy holidays for either.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to charley@nomayo.com or
71224.113@compuserve.com.
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