Three indicted in golf bribes

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

Two former starters at the city's Ala Wai golf course were indicted by an O'ahu grand jury yesterday on charges of accepting bribes, while a customer who played golf at the Ala Wai was also indicted on charges of bribing starters there six times during a two-month period last year.

Named in the indictment were former starters Janice Kakugawa, 55, and Lawrence Helekahi, 35. Kakugawa is accused of accepting bribes on two occasions, while Helekahi is accused of accepting bribes four times.

Also named in the indictment was golfer Yong Cha Toyomura, also known as "Lynn," who was accused of bribing Kakugawa and Helekahi six times between March 24 and May 26, 2000.

Helekahi, a golf course contract hire, was dismissed after he was arrested by police on suspicion of bribery June 19, 2000. Kakugawa was fired after her arrest last June and is going through a union grievance procedure in hopes of being reinstated, according to the prosecutors office.

Bail was set at $6,000 for Toyomura, $2,000 for Kakugawa and $4,000 for Helekahi.

The indictment of the three comes almost exactly one year after Kakugawa and Helekahi were arrested by police after a three-month undercover investigation into starter practices at the Ala Wai golf course.

Police said at the time of the arrests that an investigation was launched after regular golfers at the Ala Wai noticed that certain other golfers appeared to get preferred starting times once or twice every week.

Police concluded that some Ala Wai starters were allowing groups of golfers onto the course without advance reservations in exchange for payments of $5 per golfer. Investigators said they believed some of the Ala Wai starters earned $60 to $120 a day in bribes, perhaps for a year or more, primarily by allowing groups of their friends to bypass the official reservation system.

Conviction on each bribery count could result in a prison term of up to five years.