Bankoh workers fired
for cheating

The 11 insurance employees
now face a state investigation

The state Insurance Division will investigate the conduct of 11 Bank of Hawaii insurance employees who were fired for faking attendance in mandatory continuing-education courses.

Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt said the bank informed his office this month that it had terminated nearly a dozen of the 27 employees in its Bank of Hawaii Insurance Services subsidiary, including its president, Wes Imamura.

Schmidt said an internal bank inquiry found the employees were taking credit for completing mandatory continuing-education courses even though the courses had been canceled.

"It's a very serious lack of judgment on the part of the individuals, because it's a minor requirement," Schmidt said.

He said the Insurance Division could fine the individuals up to $10,000 each, or suspend or revoke their licenses.

Schmidt said he was satisfied with Bank of Hawaii's actions and that consumers were not harmed.

Insurance producers are required by law to take continuing-education classes to renew their licenses every two years.

Bank of Hawaii Insurance Services, one of three bank insurance units, offers employee benefit, property and casualty coverage and other commercial lines for local business clients.

The bank's other insurance units, Pacific Century Life Insurance and Triad Insurance Services, were not affected by the cheating, said Ron Leach, executive vice president for Bank of Hawaii's commercial insurance division.

The bank immediately informed the state Insurance Division after it investigated the problem, Leach said. Bank of Hawaii also replaced Imamura with the insurance subsidiary's compliance officer, Minna Lehti, to serve as acting president, and contacted most of its customers to reassure them.

Leach said the company also enlisted the aid of the subsidiary's recently retired chairman, Mike Groholski, in the interim.

"We were very disappointed to see this happen," Leach said. "Obviously, it was not something anyone would like to see happen."