A lawsuit that accuses a prominent local attorney and a high-powered national law firm of conspiring to help imprisoned businessman Sukamto Sia conceal assets from creditors is moving forward. Suit moves ahead
against Sia lawyersStar-Bulletin Staff
A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10 to decide whether the suit will be moved to U.S. District Court from U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The suit, filed last year by the trustee in Sia's pending bankruptcy case, accuses Honolulu lawyer Renton Nip and law firm Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson and Hand of aiding and abetting Sia in hiding millions of dollars in assets. Sia is serving a federal prison sentence through September 2004 after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud and wire fraud in 2001.
Nip and Verner Liipfert deny wrongdoing and allege the lawsuit was not clear enough for them to respond to, but U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King ruled Thursday that the lawsuit was fairly drafted.