Sia release may be
held up by $2M paymentA Gulfstream aircraft deposit
has yet to be turned over to
his bankruptcy estate
A bankruptcy judge is recommending that Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra keep former isle investor Sukamto Sia in prison until he complies with bankruptcy court orders.
Sia, who is in prison in Texas for bankruptcy fraud and scheduled for release in September, has not turned over a $2 million Gulfstream aircraft deposit refund to his bankruptcy estate as ordered, according to a November court filing by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King.
Sia, an Indonesian who faces being deported upon his release, also has not produced financial documents as ordered.
In a Nov. 24 report, King recommended that Ezra give Sia a last chance to comply with the orders, with a 60-day deadline. If Sia doesn't comply, King said Sia should be incarcerated until he does so. After complying, Sia would then finish his current prison term.
Sia has previously refused to answer questions about his bankruptcy case, asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, King noted.
A hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 9.
"As this court specifically found in issuing the disclosure order, the debtor (Sia), although incarcerated, does have the ability to implement custody and control over, and to cause other entities and persons within his control to produce, the materials required by the disclosure order," King said in a separate finding.
The disclosure order, which covers documents that were to be produced by Sia, was entered in May 2002, shortly after Sia was sentenced, and gave Sia 60 days to comply. "Over a year later, the debtor has neither complied nor demonstrated any credible justification for non-compliance," King said in November.
King filed his recommendations after the trustee in Sia's bankruptcy liquidation case, Guido Giacometti, filed a motion last year for the bankruptcy court to impose contempt sanctions.
When Sia filed for bankruptcy in Honolulu in 1998, he said he had $9.3 million in assets and nearly $300 million in debts. Giacometti has been appointed to round up Sia's assets to distribute to creditors.
"We finally got to a point where we've run out of any remedies," Giacometti said yesterday. "If we had those records, we would learn about transactions where we have some information now, but we have missing information, and we know that the information is contained in those records."
As an alternative, Judge King said Sia should be incarcerated for contempt after his current sentence ends, if Sia still has not complied.
Sia, former owner of the defunct Bank of Honolulu, pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud and wire fraud in October 2001. Three months ago, Ezra denied Sia's request to be furloughed for medical reasons.
Sia's Honolulu attorney could not be reached for comment yesterday.