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Saturday, March 13, 1999




Estate of disarray

art

Since the Broken Trust essay was published in August 1997, Bishop Estate and its five trustees have been the subjects of reports, investigations and legal action. Turmoil has rocked the estate, from the initial call for change, to the investigations, inquiries and internal divisions and now the tragedy of personal lives gone awry, a sex scandal, apparent suicide and drug overdose. The events of the past year and a half have intruded on the normally quiet world of big-money philanthropy, turning private affairs into public spectacle. Here is a look at the five trustees and the status of pending cases against them:

Tapa

Henry H. Peters

Age:
58
Appointed trustee: 1984
Term ends: 2011
Education: Bachelor's degree, business administration, Brigham Young University.
Outside positions: Chairman, PBOC Holdings Inc. (parent of People's Bank of California).
Past experience: Former state House speaker.

Bullet Legal status: Indicted for theft. Also target of Bronster's temporary and permanent removal petitions.

Tapa

Marion Mae Lokelani Lindsey

Age:
60
Appointed to board: 1993
Term ends: 2008
Education: Bachelor's degree, education, Brigham Young University (Hawaii); master's degree, Pacific Island Studies, University of Hawaii.
Outside positions: Former director, KDP Ltd.
Past experience: Maui district superintendent, Department of Education.

Bullet Legal status: Stender and Jervis have sued for her removal; Bronster is seeking her temporary and permanent ouster.

Tapa

Richard "Dickie" Wong

Age:
65
Appointed to board: 1993
Term ends: 2003
Education: bachelor's degree, social work, University of Hawaii
Outside positions: Realtor.
Past experience: Former state Senate president, assistant division director United Public Worker's Union.

Bullet Legal status: Target of a grand jury investigation into an alleged kickback scheme. Also named in Bronster's temporary and permanent removal petitions.

Tapa

Oswald K. Stender

Age:
67
Appointed to board: 1989
Term ends: 2001
Education: Bachelor's degree, business administration, University of Hawaii
Outside positions: Director, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.
Past experience: Former chief executive officer, the estate of James Campbell.

Bullet Legal status: Joined with Jervis in seeking Lindsey's removal.

Tapa

Gerard A. Jervis

Age:
50
Appointed trustee: 1994
Term ends: 2018
Education: Law degree, William Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii.
Outside positions: Board member, PBOC Holdings,
Past experience: Trial attorney, former member of the state Judicial Selection Commission.

Bullet Legal status: Named by Attorney General Margery Bronster in her temporary removal petition. Also joined trustee Oswald Stender in seeking to remove trustee Lokelani Lindsey. Was rushed to the hospital on Thursday after taking an overdose of sleeping pills.

Timeline
Click on the image to view a full-size (190K) time-line of the Bishop Estate saga.


Pending actions:

bullet 1. Internal Revenue Service investigation. Launched in 1995, the investigation is an exhaustive IRS audit of trust operations that also takes a close look at trustee compensation, executive perks and the school's racial preference admission policies. In January, the IRS delivered the estate its notices of preliminary adjustment, which spells out the federal agency's initial findings.

bullet 2. The Henry Peters case. On Nov. 25, 1998, a 16-member grand jury indicted Peters for theft. The indictment stated that Peters received a $192,500 kickback from Wong's brother-in-law, Jeffrey Stone. Circuit Judge Michael Town recently rejected Peter's move to dismiss the case and set a January 2000 date for the trial.

bullet 3. The permanent removal of trustees. On Sept. 10, 1998, Attorney General Margery Bronster asked the probate court to remove three of five trustees, alleging that Peters, Wong and Lindsey engaged in a widespread pattern of self-dealing and mismanagement. Bronster singled out Wong and Peters for taking part in an alleged kickback scheme.

bullet 4. Temporary removal. Bronster also has filed for the temporary ouster of Peters, Wong, Lindsey and Jervis, saying board members withheld $350 million that they should have spent on the Kamehameha Schools.

bullet 5. The Lindsey case. Stender and Jervis are seeking Lindsey's removal on the grounds that she breached her fiduciary duties and intimidated Kamehameha Schools' teachers and students.

After four months of hearings involving more than 50 witnesses and thousands of pages of documents, this trial has completed the testimony stage.

Yesterday, Circuit Judge Bambi Weil heard from the Lindsey defense team's final witness and set a April 1 date for closing arguments




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