Trustee Peters
ordered to provide
tax records

The state attorney general
will get five consecutive
tax returns and house
renovation receipts

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

A state judge has ordered Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters to hand over his state and federal tax records from 1993 to 1997 to the attorney general's office, in a sign that the state may be close to completing its 11-month investigation into the multi-billion-dollar charitable trust.

Yesterday, Circuit Judge Kevin Chang also ruled that Peters must give to the state records relating to construction work at his 14,000-square-foot home in Maili.

Peters' tax filings and the construction records were subpoenaed by the state in its investigation into allegations of financial wrongdoing by Bishop Estate trustees.

State attorneys want to know whether Peters received benefits at the expense of the trust, which operates the Kamehameha Schools for children of native Hawaiian ancestry.

Peters has said that he paid for the construction work. His attorney, Renee Yuen, also objected to the state's subpoena for Peters' tax filings, saying the records involve financial information concerning Peters' wife, Carolyn, who is not a subject of the state's investigation.

In a related move, Peters yesterday met with the attorney general's office which had subpoenaed his testimony. But the

interview ended after about 20 minutes when Peters and Yuen objected to the videotaping of the session.

Yuen today filed for a protective order barring the videotaping of her client's testimony.

She said that the state did not videotape other trustees who had appeared before state investigators.

Yuen also asked Judge Chang for an order requiring the state to inform Peters whether he is a target of a civil, criminal or administrative investigation so that he could exercise his right against self-incrimination.

Peters was scheduled to return to the state attorney general's

office today at noon, but that was postponed, pending the outcome of an Aug. 14 hearing on the protective order.

Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones said the state is drafting a motion to compel Peters' testimony.

He said the protective order is part of the estate's tactic of delaying the state's investigation.

He said the state already has granted Peters a three-week delay for his testimony.

Bishop Estate trustee Richard Wong is scheduled to meet with state investigators next week.

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