An investigation by the Legislature would join two other probes into HVCB spurred by a highly critical state audit released earlier this month. It would not begin until the Legislature reconvenes in January and approves it.

If investigations by the attorney general’s office or the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority yield satisfactory results before January, the joint committees may not choose to pursue the investigation, according to tourism committee chairs Donna Mercado Kim in the Senate and Jerry Chang in the House.

The Legislature’s investigation would have subpoena powers.

Chang said he is particularly concerned about contracts awarded to former HVCB vice president, Wei-Wei Ojiri, which raised questions about conflicts of interest.

“To me that’s one of the major ones,” Chang said. “It’s something that still hasn’t been settled.”

Legislators also have said they want more information on accounting procedures that state auditor Marion Higa called into question and contracts funneled through HVCB under the direction of former Gov. Ben Cayetano’s office.

The tourism authority plans to ask the HVCB’s auditing firm, KPMG, why it did not catch the questionable accounting practices mentioned in the state audit. The authority also has asked the attorney general’s office to include KPMG’s work in its investigation.

Chang said the audit “was a wake-up call, because HTA’s in the process of formation” since it was started in 1998. “This is one of the biggest learning processes I think they’ve faced,” he said.

Attorney General Mark Bennett said that if there are matters he finds in his review of HVCB that are legally questionable but that his office decides not to pursue, he will pass on explanations and information for a potential legislative investigation. He said he is expediting the review and has “a good number of deputies” working on it.