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Ex-isle banker
Sia may face 6
more charges

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Star-Bulletin staff

The federal government said it is seeking to indict businessman Sukamto Sia on six more charges, following the bankrupt investor's earlier arrest on three counts of fraud.

A grand jury will convene Oct. 18 to hear new evidence against Sia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Les Osborne said yesterday at Sia's pre-trial hearing.

The 41-year-old Sia was not present at the hearing.

Osborne would not provide details on the new charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi scheduled a hearing on Oct. 20 to hear the charges.

Sia's attorneys said the move would likely delay the scheduled trial date of Oct. 31.

Sia, arrested in August on charges related to his filing for bankruptcy in 1998, remains in a halfway house in Honolulu.

Sia is the former majority owner and chairman of Bank of Honolulu, Hawaii's smallest bank.

He filed bankruptcy in November 1998, a month after his arrest in Las Vegas on charges of bouncing more than $13 million in checks to casinos.