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Banker is linked
to Harris probe

An executive had ties to a firm
that allegedly made illegal donations


City prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint against a local bank executive tied to an engineering firm that allegedly directed $29,500 to Mayor Jeremy Harris' political campaign.

In court papers filed Friday in Honolulu District Court, prosecutors said Wilhelmina Rise resident Kent Iboshi gave $2,000 to Harris' campaign under a false name in September 2000.

Iboshi is listed on Harris' campaign records as an assistant vice president at the Bank of Hawaii. But prosecutors and the state Campaign Spending Commission have tied him to the local engineering firm of Wilson Okamoto & Associates Inc.

People familiar with the investigations said Iboshi and his wife, state economist Pearl Imada Iboshi, are friends of the engineering firm's president, Gary Okamoto, and his wife, Lori.

Iboshi could not be reached for comment.

He is the second person linked to the Wilson Okamoto firm to face a criminal charge. Last month, prosecutors charged Kaneohe resident Leona Nishimura with making a political donation under a false name.

According to state campaign spending records, Kent Iboshi contributed $2,000 to the Harris campaign on Sept. 20, 2000. That same day, Nishimura gave $1,000 to the Harris campaign.

Donors linked to the Wilson Okamoto firm made 13 contributions totaling $29,500 to the Harris campaign since 1996, state campaign spending records show.

During that same period, the Wilson Okamoto firm received more than $17 million in nonbid design and consulting work from the city, according to city records.

Under state law an individual or business can give no more than $4,000 to a mayoral candidate during a four-year election cycle. Donors also are barred from giving money under false names.

Harris' attorneys have denied any link between political donations and the awarding of city contracts.



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