FINALLY! - OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS SUED FOR MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS IN SUPPORT OF AKAKA BILL
The Honolulu Advertiser - Friday, October 14, 2005
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
A lawsuit filed by five Hawaiians claims that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is illegally spending dollars reserved for the benefit of those with 50 percent Hawaiian blood or more.
All nine OHA trustees as well as two former trustees are named in the suit, which states that they "expended trust funds without regard to the blood quantum contained in the definition of native Hawaiians" as spelled out in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.
The lawsuit was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court....
The trustees, the lawsuit said, have spent trust funds in lobbying Congress for passage of the Akaka bill, which seeks to create a government entity that would represent all with Hawaiian blood regardless of their quantum.
Additionally, the trustees have "expended trust funds for all-expense-paid vacations and political junkets for themselves and their staff in the guise of lobbying for passage of the Akaka bill," the lawsuit said.
OHA trustees have previously stated that they have spent at least $1 million lobbying for the Akaka bill....
Asked what percentage of OHA's funding he believes is being spent illegally, [attorney Walter] Schoettle replied: "That's what we're going to find out. They don't exactly keep very good track. It's all mixed up."
Schoettle said his clients are beneficiaries of OHA and each is at least 50 percent Hawaiian.
