Vol VII No. 700 Part 2

Treva T Woolsey

I found this floating around on FB so I got a copy

This was posted on FB four days ago. Just to let you know I do not make this stuff up.

It was posted on a OHA Trustees page........

ARTICLE:

HAWAII ATTORNEY GENERAL AND FBI ARE CLOSING IN ON THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS

Possible Illegal Use of State Funds and Insider Dealing Cited. How Much Money Is Involved?

HONOLULU: APRIL 15, 2018 – The Hawaii Free press has reported “sources at OHA” leaked a story that State Sheriffs served subpoenas on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA) Chief Operating Officer Lisa Victor and Dan Ahuna staffer Davis Price as part of an ongoing criminal investigation by the State Attorney General in cooperation with the FBI. The subpoenas were served the day after OHA Trustees were planning to discuss reforms of OHA’s troubled limited liability corporations (LLCs) and the possible removal of LLC managers, including Lisa Victor. That meeting was cancelled due to what one source called, “politics by opponents of reforming the LLCs.”

After learning about the AG and FBI subpoenas, I phoned OHA Trustee At Large Rowena Akana to confirm the story. Trustee Akana said:
“It’s important to first understand that trustees Robert Lindsey Jr. and Colette Machado [the current OHA Chair] along with Trustee Dan Ahuna are the voting block supporting OHA CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe.”

BACKGROUND

After Akana was elected OHA Chair in early 2017 and knowing about many of the questionable issues now being investigated by the State Attorney General and the FBI, Akana attempted to persuade her fellow board members to terminate Crabbe’s contract. Akana said that her actions to clean up the mess Crabbe had created received “unexpected and very vitriolic pushback from Lindsey, Machado and Ahuna.” After only a month as OHA Chair, Akana was voted out and replaced by Machado. Akana said, “How these people can continue to support Crabbe and his minions who benefit from the relationship after all we know today is a shameful demonstration of how corrupt OHA’s board and management have indeed become.” Many of Akana’s earlier observations had been revealed in a “scathing” February 2018, State audit.

Akana noted that one of the reasons Trustee Ahuna’s staffer Davis Price was named in the criminal investigation is because of Price’s management of OHA’s $1 million investment in the Makaweli Poi Mill on Kauai which became one of OHA’s questionable nonprofit LLCs. Along with Crabbe and others, Mona Bernardino, chief operating officer of Hiilei Aloha LLC, the nonprofit arm of OHA that originally managed the mill, turned the management over to Aloha Aina Poi Company LLC which was co-founded by OHA employee Davis Price. We later learned that Davis Price was a manager and partner in Aloha Aina — while he worked as an aide to OHA Trustee Dan Ahuna.

After the poi mill story broke on June 6th 2017, several OHA beneficiaries protested the conflict of interest for personal gain including Hawaiian royalty descendant HRH Abigail Kawananakoa. Kawananakoa has been very supportive of Trustee Rowena Akana’s effort to clean up OHA and she filed an ethics complaint against Price, whom she says “used his position at OHA to block an audit of the poi investment.” Princess Kawananakoa’s ethics complaint was forwarded to the state Attorney General’s office which was already conducting a separate investigation into OHA awards of contracts – and here we are today.

HOW MUCH MONEY IS INVOLVED?

Exact information is difficult to ascertain but some reliable sources estimate the trust to be worth at least $600 million or more. In addition to thousands acres of Hawaii real estate, OHA also receives large annual State payments (currently 20% of Public Land Trust receipts) for the use of many other properties including the Hawaii International Airport. There are five revenue generating OHA LLCs being investigated — including the magnificent 1800-acre Waimea Valley on Oahu which is managed by Hi’ipaka LLC.

Waimea Valley, Oahu
Waimea Valley has been called “the Vatican of the Pacific” and is know locally as “the Valley of the Priests” because of its history with the ancient Hawaiian religion including an active, fully restored Hawaiian heiau (temple) covering several acres located directly above the steep North Valley wall. The Waimea Valley living sites on the Valley floor carbon date back hundred of years before 1779 when English explorer Captain James Cook landed in Hawaii and was killed on Hawaii Island. Only a few days later, his two ships, the Resolution and the Discovery, landed at Waimea Bay below Waimea Valley. The two Ship’s journals are fascinating reads about their “first contact” experiences in Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific.

Waimea Valley contains many restored historical living structures including stone terraces and walls constructed during the time of the early Hawaiian monarchy. “The nutrient-rich volcanic soil combined with a rainy environment provided the resourceful Hawaiians of the area the opportunity create one of the most prosperous farming communities in all Polynesia. The area had complex fish ponds, domesticated animal pens, various large farming beds, and was famous for the cultivation of pink taro root stock, a coveted item to the Ali`i (the Hawaiian elite). Much of the garden floor was once cultivated for taro, sweet potato, and bananas, with new crops and orchards introduced by Europeans after their arrival.”

Waimea Valley is listed at “#9” on TripAdvisor and enjoys many thousands of paying visitors a month who pay an entry fee ($16 for adults; $8.00 for children ages 4-12) to the facility which includes a large gift shop, a casual dining facility and a 500-seat performance venue. Waimea Valley has one of the few large waterfalls and natural pools where swimming is allowed in Hawaii. Many North Shore tour buses stop at Waimea Valley. Point being, the Valley generates a LOT of cash.

With the LLCs and the OHA trust now officially under state and federal investigation, stay tuned for the next “shoe to drop.”

Sherri Kane

AdminApril 18 at 5:38pm

Make no mistake the 3rd Circuit Court on the Big Island of Hawaii is not called a "drug court' for nothing. The way it looks from the outside is that the court is meant to prosecute drug crimes. When In fact it is also there to support and protect high level drug crimes involving real property theft based on forgeries. It is nothing more then a kangaroo court. It does not matter if you have the title to your property, if you paid the mortgage off, or what. If they want your property for their money laundering purposes, they will use their power corruptly, and allow banks and forgers like Sulla to steal it. This in turn enriches these corrupt players, but ruins the lives of the innocent people involved. Money is being laundered via stolen real estate and drugs are being exported all over the island and the mainland which means big $$$$$$ for all the judges, lawyers, law enforcement, banks, and state and county officials involved. If more people would report this, to shed light on this evil, these evil-doers could not be able to continue to harm people. And just an FYI, Judge Ronald Ibarra, although retired, still has his hands in drug court mob. He still has his subordinate Judge Melvin Fujino in that court, and corrupt judges like him, retired or not, need to be charged with aiding and abetting the drug king pins and/or land grabbing crooks such as Sulla, and others like him, and they also need to be charged with Treason.