Companies could pay fine
in settlement over campaign
donations

A local engineering firm and its sister company have reached a settlement with the state Campaign Spending Commission over allegations that they made illegal political donations to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, Gov. Linda Lingle and other prominent local politicians.

KFC Engineering Management Inc. and KFC Airport Inc. have agreed to pay a stiff fine to settle the commission's investigation that the firms gave more than $150,000 in excess and false-name contributions.

Recipients of the alleged illegal contributions include the campaigns of Harris, Lingle, U.S. Rep. Ed Case, ex-Gov. Ben Cayetano, former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, past Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana, former state Sen. Matt Matsunaga, ex-Big Island mayoral candidate Fred Holschuh and former City Councilman Jon Yoshimura.

Bob Watada, the commission's executive director, declined to disclose the amount of the proposed fine, which requires the approval of the commission's five-member board when it meets on Wednesday.

By law, the commission can fine KFC triple the dollar amount of the illegal political donations. But in most cases the state agency has opted for fines of about $1,000 for each illegal contribution.

The commission is alleging that KFC made more than 50 false-name and excessive political contributions.

Dexter Kubota, KFC's president, and Brian Bowers, KFC Airport's president, could not be reached for comment.

Between 1999 and 2001, KFC Airport gave more than $51,000 to the Harris campaign in the names of employees and their relatives, the commission said. During the same period, the company gave $16,000 in false-name contributions to the Apana campaign, $8,000 to the Matsunaga campaign and $4,000 to the Holschuh campaign, the commission said.

Sister company KFC Management made $25,000 in false-name contributions to the Cayetano campaign and $31,165 to the Hirono campaign, the commission said. Between 1998 and 2002 the company gave $12,500 to the Lingle campaign through its employees and their relatives, the commission said.

State law bars donors from making more than $4,000 in donations to mayoral candidates during a four-year election cycle. They also are prohibited from making donations in false names in order to circumvent state campaign finance limits.