Wong charges are waste of time, money

The state's repeated efforts to get some kind of charge to stick against former Bishop Estate trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong are beginning to smell like a vendetta.

The state has an obligation, surely, to pursue criminal acts when it sees them. But it's difficult to see what good comes from the repeated attempts to get Wong on one charge or another.

To recap: Wong was indicted, along with fellow former trustee Henry Peters, on theft charges related to the sale of former Bishop Estate land under the Kalele Kai condominium. The charges related to allegations of kickbacks from Wong's former brother-in-law, developer Jeffrey Stone.

The theft case was dismissed, but Wong was later indicted on perjury charges, alleging he lied to the grand jury when he was asked whether he had talked to Stone about the kickback deal.

That perjury case was also dismissed.

Now the state is back again, re-indicting Wong on the same perjury allegations. Essentially, he is being charged with lying because he denied wrongdoing in a matter long since dismissed.

Wong is gone from the Bishop Estate. The accusations of kickbacks and theft have been dismissed. Large amounts of money are being spent to pursue a matter than has sunk to a level of irrelevance.

It is time to get on to more important business.