Firm’s president fined
$2,000 for illegal gifts
A state judge fined the head of a local engineering firm $2,000 yesterday after he pleaded no contest to charges that he made illegal political donations to Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign.
District Judge James Dannenberg also ordered Sam Hyun, president of M.C. International Inc., to pay $50 to the state Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
Dannenberg granted Hyun's request for a deferral of his no-contest plea, which would allow him to get the case dismissed if he stays out of trouble for a year.
Prosecutors opposed the deferral, but Hyun's attorney Reginald Minn said his client was following a practice that was in place before he took over the company, formerly known as W.A. Hirai & Associates Inc.
In a criminal complaint filed in state District Court in November, prosecutors alleged that Hyun made political contributions under false names and gave more than the $4,000 legal limit to the Harris campaign. The charges are punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $2,000.
In March the state Campaign Spending Commission fined Hyun's company for making $30,000 in illegal political donations to Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano, former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and former Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana.
The commission has since reopened its case against M.C. International after it found additional questionable political contributions linked to the firm.