Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Sia bankruptcy estate
gets some bank shares

Star-Bulletin staff

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Lloyd King has approved a settlement in which nearly 8,000 shares of Bank of Honolulu stock held by a Singapore bank will be turned over to the bankruptcy estate of international investor Sukamto Sia.

Under the deal, approved yesterday, Commerzbank of Southeast Asia would release 7,964 shares in return for half the proceeds when they are liquidated. The shares, which once belonged to Sia, are held as collateral on a loan to Sia.

Guido Giacometti, trustee in Sia's Chapter 7 bankruptcy, sought to recover all the shares but decided a concession was more productive than a legal battle over the assets. The shares' value has not been determined.

Sia, formerly Sukarman Sukamto, initially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 6, 1998, a month after his arrest in Las Vegas in connection with $13.5 million in gambling debts. The 40-year-old investor bought and developed numerous properties in Hawaii a decade ago.

The bankruptcy, later converted to a liquidation, includes $9.3 million in assets and $296.4 million in debts. Sia resigned as chairman of Bank of Honolulu, Hawaii's smallest bank, shortly before the filing.