Kaka'ako nightclub charged with 27 violations

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Kaka'ako hostess bar has been charged with 27 violations of the state's liquor laws and could face thousands of dollars in fines and the possible revocation of its liquor license if found guilty of the charges.

The charges against Club Yokohama range from minor timecard violations to more serious allegations of prostitution. Each violation would carry a fine of $250 to $2,000, but the Honolulu Liquor Commission has the discretion to revoke the club's liquor license because of the number of violations, said city Deputy Corporation Counsel Duane Pang, who will prosecute the case.

Representatives of the Queen Street establishment will go before the commission this afternoon. Club Yokohama attorney William Harrison said he will contest the charges, but will ask that the hearing be delayed for two months because he has yet to meet with many of the witnesses in the case.

Pang said the case began as a police investigation into alleged prostitution at Club Yokohama last September. The evidence was turned over to the Liquor Commission, which conducted its own investigation.

Pang declined to comment on the specific allegations until the case is heard. But he did say the alleged violations occurred Sept. 26 and 29, 2000. Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said yesterday that several Club Yokohama employees have been arrested and charged with prostitution. But she declined to comment further.

Harrison called the charges "rubbish" and said police are classifying any kind of touching or lap-dancing as prostitution. But because the standards of proof are lower before the Liquor Commission than in a court of law, Harrison said his client is very concerned about the allegations.

The 27 charges against Club Yokohama are the most in recent times for one establishment, said former Deputy Corporation Counsel Anthony Chang, who prosecuted Liquor Commission cases for three years.