Indictments sought in campaign donations
| • | Two Harris donors to pay $2,500 in fines |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
City prosecutors will convene a grand jury today to seek indictments for illegal campaign contributions that people associated with a major Honolulu engineering firm allegedly made to Mayor Jeremy Harris and others.
Officers and employees of SSFM International Inc., and their relatives, donated at least $85,000 to Harris since 1996, according to reports filed with the state Campaign Spending Commission.
Those people and others connected to the firm also gave nearly that amount to Gov. Ben Cayetano, and gave smaller donations to Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.
Commission director Robert Watada confirmed that he and a private investigator for the commission had been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury. City Department of Design and Construction director Rae Loui was also subpoenaed; she did not return calls.
SSFM is one of the state's largest engineering companies and has worked on a wide variety of city and state projects, such as the Central O'ahu Regional Park, Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the Honolulu International Airport terminal.
SSFM president and chief executive officer Michael Matsumoto did not return calls, nor did two attorneys for the company.
The campaign commission has long been investigating political donations linked to SSFM. Company officers and directors asked people to contribute to Harris and Cayetano, then reimbursed them to evade state contribution limits, according to court documents supporting a subpoena the commission issued in March. The payments were allegedly made from a special account held by Matsumoto.
The grand jury is separate from an investigative grand jury that has been meeting for months to hear evidence related to Harris' campaign and the awarding of city contracts.
Harris' top campaign fund-raiser and several Cabinet members have appeared before that grand jury, which is expected to continue meeting into the new year.
Prosecutors declined to comment on either grand jury. Harris has denied any link between campaign contributions and the awarding of city contracts.
