Tourism advocate could be extradited
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — As friends rallied to his support, prosecutors prepared to bring former Hawai'i Tourism Authority board member Gary J. Baldwin to court today to face extradition to Arizona on a charge that he stole $300,000 from an eye doctor.
Photo courtesy News 8
Baldwin, who has been in Honolulu police custody since his arrest by the FBI Monday, will be represented by attorney Phil Lowenthal, who would not comment yesterday. The Arizona indictment is from 1986.
Gary Baldwin was arrested by the FBI Monday.
Prosecutors expect to ask that bail be set. Jim Fulton, spokesman for Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, said extradition cases often take from one to two months, and could take more if Baldwin fights extradition. The governors of Arizona and Hawai'i will be involved, since "the extradition process is really state governor to state governor," he said.
Gov. Ben Cayetano knows Baldwin, and Monday issued a statement crediting him for his work on behalf of the state's economy. Other political and business leaders have made similar statements of support. His associates in the Islands say the Gary Baldwin they have known for at least 15 years has been a respected business leader, not a con man.
The FBI said a grand jury indictment says Baldwin worked for several months as a consultant for Arizona eye doctor David D. Dulaney, and that he stole $300,000 from the doctor.
When Baldwin learned of the indictment, he disappeared, leaving a suicide note behind, the FBI said. Authorities have not explained why it took so long to find Baldwin, who was living a very public life here.
He participated in tourism promotion trips across the United States on behalf of Kaua'i, became the central figure in attracting federal grant money to rebuild Kaua'i's economy after Hurricane 'Iniki in 1992, and ran several businesses. He recently stepped down from a position as a charter board member of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority.
"I was shocked," said friend Noboru Yamane, who said Baldwin would have had to be in two places at once to be defrauding an Arizona eye doctor while running his car rental business on Kaua'i.
Baldwin has said he arrived on Kaua'i in 1982.
Yamane, then manager for Hawaiian Airlines on the island, said he recalls going on Mainland tourism promotion trips with Baldwin as part of the Kaua'i Promotion Committee in the years immediately after 1982's Hurricane 'Iwa.
"It was during Tony's (Mayor Tony Kunimura) first administration (1982-1984). We were on the bus, and I remember this fat haole boy sitting in the back of the bus with us. He worked hard, carrying boxes and things, and since I was the oldest one there, I made it a point to make him feel at home," Yamane said.
Peter Herndon, who moved to Kaua'i in 1988 to manage the Kaua'i Hilton Hotel, said he met Baldwin when he first arrived and participated with the Kaua'i Economic Development Board in attracting federal assistance in helping the island's economy recover after 1992's Hurricane 'Iniki.
"We worked very closely together after the hurricane at KEDB. He's a very smart guy," Herndon said. "It doesn't make sense. This is really bizarre."
Arthur Jackson, a spokesman for the eye doctor Baldwin is accused of defrauding, said: "The matter with Mr. Baldwin is very serious. Everyone involved is pleased that it is now in the hands of the proper legal authorities. I have been advised to make no further comment at this time."
