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Sia wants to Former Honolulu investor Sukamto Sia, awaiting federal trial on $1.5 million bail, is seeking to move out of a Makiki halfway house and into a 28th-floor luxury condominium in the high-rise he developed a decade ago, the Waikiki Landmark.
await trial in
luxury condo
The ex-isle banker seeks
to leave a halfway houseBy Tim Ruel
Star-BulletinIn a motion scheduled to be heard Thursday before Chief Judge David Ezra, Sia has asked to be released to condominium No. 2801, a 1,318-square-foot corner unit owned by Fong Ngo Lam.
Lam has reportedly offered her condo to the Asian businessman for the length of the trial. Lam, whose relation to Sia is unclear, assumed the lease to the condo in 1993 for $1.43 million, according to public records.
The U.S. government opposes Sia's motion, however, because it still views the Indonesian-born businessman as a flight risk, Assistant U.S. Attorney Omer Poirier said today.
Poirier noted the government has never liked Sia's current residence, the Miller Hale halfway house, but still opposes moving Sia to a private residence.
Sia was arrested in August by FBI agents during a local bankruptcy creditors meeting after a federal grand jury returned an indictment on three charges of bankruptcy fraud.
Earlier this month, a grand jury returned another indictment against Sia, adding six charges of making false statements during bankruptcy proceedings and money laundering.
Sia has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Sia filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in 1998, listing $296 million in debts and $9.3 million in assets. Sia's case since has been converted to Chapter 7 liquidation.
Judge Ezra has ordered Sia restricted to the Miller Hale halfway house in Makiki, where the businessman has since remained, awaiting trial set for Dec. 5.
In the new motion, Sia's attorneys urge that Sia be allowed to move to the Waikiki Landmark, arguing that if Sia wanted to escape Miller Hale, he could have already, because it is an unsecured facility.
The defense notes that most areas of Miller Hale are not constantly monitored, nor are the doors locked, according to the motion, which was filed last week in U.S. District Court. Therefore, the defense argues, moving Sia to the Landmark would not increase chances of flight.
But Poirier said Sia's ability to flee Miller Hale is irrelevant. Just because someone can flee the building doesn't mean they can escape authorities. "The question is: How much of a head start do you have before the government comes looking for you?" Poirier said. Moreover, Poirier said defendants often wait until later in their trial to flee. "You just have to make sure you're gone before guilty verdict," he said.
Sia's attorneys could not be reached for immediate comment this morning. Sia was the former chairman of the former Bank of Honolulu, Hawaii's smallest bank. He stepped down in November 1998, a month after being arrested in Las Vegas for writing bad checks to casinos where he owed about $13.5 million in gambling debts. Earlier this month, federal regulators took over the bank and sold it to San Francisco-based Bank of the Orient.