Posted on: Friday, June 29, 2001
Ke'eaumoku hostess bar loses license
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A Ke'eaumoku Street hostess bar had its liquor license revoked yesterday after being found guilty of 14 of 20 state liquor law violations, including allowing a minor to dance nude at the club.
The Honolulu Liquor Commission found Golden Dolls Showgirls guilty of eight counts of failing to maintain proper employee time records, five counts of permitting unregistered nude dancers to perform, and one count of allowing a 17-year-old girl to dance nude. The license revocation is the harshest penalty the commission can give.
Attorney Michael Green, who represented the club, declined to comment other than to say he will file an appeal with the state Circuit Court.
Yvonne Dang, Golden Dolls' co-owner, called the revocation "terrible," but had little else to say. The club will be allowed to operate pending the appeal.
The charges against Golden Dolls stemmed from an undercover police operation Sept. 15, 2000. Police Sgt. Gary Sunada testified yesterday that police conducted the investigation after receiving complaints of illegal sexual activity and nude minor dancers at Golden Dolls.
Police paid Dang $360 to rent a second-floor room at Golden Dolls for what they said was a bachelor's party. During the party, several dancers came from the main showroom on the first floor to perform for the officers, Sunada said.
He said the dancers performed "totally nude" and also accepted money in the form of dollar bills from the officers. This, Sunada said, constituted prostitution.
Sunada also testified that one of the dancers was a 17-year-old girl who has a record of prostitution.
Green argued that the girl gave Dang what turned out to be a falsified copy of a birth certificate that showed she was older than 21. But the commission never looked at the copy and dismissed the argument.
Regarding the dollar bills, Green accused the officers of entrapment, saying that the dancers never asked for money.
Green also questioned whether the commission had jurisdiction over the matter because Dang said she received permission from the panel to exclude the second-floor as part of the licensed premises. Neither Dang nor Green could produce any evidence, however.
The commission did not buy Green's arguments and found Golden Dolls guilty of 14 charges. The club was found not guilty on six charges that it allowed dancers to perform in an area other than a stage.
After being found guilty, city Deputy Corporation Counsel Duane Pang, who prosecuted the case, gave the commission the option of fining Golden Dolls $6,300 or revoking the license. But Pang leaned toward the harsher penalty because of the number of dancers who were not registered with the commission.
"You specifically granted this licensee a nude category (license) and one of the requirements is all your nude dancers have to be registered. Easy, easy, easy requirement," Pang told the commission. "Five violations, I think that's a slap in the face (to the commission)."
The commission agreed and voted 4-0 to revoke the license.
"Because of the seriousness and aggravating circumstances of this specific case, I would like to recommend to the commission that we should revoke the license," Commissioner Orlando Soriano said.
