Contracting A city contractor that is a target of grand jury investigations into Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign is holding talks with city prosecutors over possible criminal charges.
firm talking with
city prosecutors
Officials are probing Mayor
Harris' campaign financesBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comHoward Luke, an attorney for SSFM International Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Michael Matsumoto, stopped short of calling the proposed deal a plea agreement. But he said his client hopes to resolve the matter without having to appear before an Oahu grand jury.
Luke did not provide details of the proposed agreement but said his client has cooperated with the prosecutor's investigation. Luke said Matsumoto has already handed over financial records and is willing to provide testimony and tax records.
The prosecutor's office had no comment.
"He'll be completely candid as far as anyone's questions are concerned," Luke said. "We are moving forward to having this matter resolved hopefully in the near future."
The plea negotiations were disclosed yesterday morning after the prosecutor's office abruptly canceled a grand jury hearing targeting SSFM, which is linked to more than $100,000 in alleged illegal campaign contributions to the Harris campaign.
Unlike a previous grand jury investigating the Harris campaign, yesterday's panel had the authority to issue criminal indictments.
Prosecutors have been looking at alleged links between contributions to the Harris campaign and SSFM's work on city projects.
SSFM, which has received about $4 million in city work since 1996, is the city's consultant for the $45 million Central Oahu Regional Park project, which has incurred millions of dollars in cost overruns.
City records reviewed by the Star-Bulletin showed that SSFM's consulting contract for the sports complex soared to $2.5 million from $932,000 as a result of three change orders.
While the Central Oahu project was under construction, donors linked to SSFM gave more than $100,000 to the Harris campaign, according to a computer-assisted investigation by the Star-Bulletin.
Under state law, a donor can give no more than $4,000 to a mayoral candidate and $6,000 to a gubernatorial candidate during a four-year election cycle. Contributors also are barred from giving money under false names.
Harris, who had been the Democratic front-runner for the governor's race before he dropped out on May 30, has said that campaign contributions play no role in the awards of city contracts.
Harris' attorney, William McCorriston, has said Harris was the first mayor in Hawaii to implement a rigorous bidding process that eliminated political influence in awarding contracts.
City & County of Honolulu
