Dissidents win seats at Finance Enterprises
Three members of the dissident shareholders group of Finance Enterprises Ltd. were elected to the company's board this week in the wake of a lawsuit to remove six of its 13 directors.
Marvin Fong -- son of the late U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong -- Valerie Yee and Nola Yee were elected at a special meeting on Saturday.
They replace Clifford Tong, Michael Schuette and Merie-Ellen Fong Gushi, Marvin Fong's twin sister.
The other board members are Russell Lau, Daniel Lau, Jeffrey Lau, Patrick Chun, Patsy Chun, Pearl Fong, Dale Fong, Jennifer Chapman, Wendell Pang and James Wright.
Marvin Fong and the shareholders' group, NVC Limited Partnership, filed a suit in First Circuit Court last Wednesday to stop plans to convert subsidiary Finance Factors into a commercial bank and to dismiss some of the board members including Finance Enterprises' chief executive Russell Lau.
The lawsuit claims that the directors misused corporate assets, paid themselves excessive salaries while not paying dividends to shareholders, withheld corporate information and blocked shareholders from selling their stock.
"We're still not the majority on the board, but the good thing is that now we have active representation on the board, and we should be able know what management is up to," said Judith Ann Pavey, attorney for the shareholders' group.
Finance Factors, a privately-held loan company created in 1952 by the late Sen. Fong and five other partners, last year announced that it wanted to convert into a full-service bank.
The first meeting of the new board of directors is scheduled for April 4.