honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, June 27, 2003

Man's arrest not tied to Harris subpoena

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Prosecutors say the arrest of a top engineering company executive early Wednesday is unrelated to a subpoena for financial records that the firm attempted to have dismissed.

Roy T. Tsutsui, vice president of R.M. Towill Corp., was booked on suspicion of illegal ownership of a business, money laundering and making campaign contributions under a false name.

The arrest came three months after R.M. Towill filed a motion to quash a prosecution subpoena for a wide range of company documents related to bank accounts, employees, and campaign contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris and other politicians.

The company argued that the subpoena was overly broad and failed to identify the target of the investigation.

Deputy City Prosecutor Randal Lee said that dispute may soon be resolved, but he would not comment further on the arrest.

"We've reached a mutual agreement regarding narrowing the scope of the subpoena," he said. "We're just waiting for compliance."

Tsutsui, 52, was released pending further investigation. He was not in his office yesterday, and company officials had no immediate comment. The attorney who handled the subpoena motion was not immediately available.

At least one R.M. Towill official was subpoenaed to appear last September before a grand jury investigating Harris' campaign finances and the awarding of city contracts. No Towill officials have been formally charged with wrongdoing since then.

Lee would not specify who received Tsutsui's alleged improper campaign contributions, or whether prosecutors had interviewed him.

The overall probe of improper political donations, which began in January 2002, remains active, he said.

A spokeswoman for Harris said the mayor had no comment on the arrest. Harris' attorney has repeatedly stated that the mayor never solicited or knowingly accepted illegal campaign money, and that the investigation has become a witch hunt.

The Harris administration has awarded contracts to R.M. Towill worth at least $23 million for work at the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, 'Ewa Villages revitalization project, and numerous other sewer system, canal, park and road projects, city records show.

Towill and its employees and their relatives donated more than $40,000 to Harris since 1996, according to state Campaign Spending Commission records.

Towill and the city are also defendants in a contractor's lawsuit, which alleges that Towill and others bungled management of an important disinfection unit at the Sand Island plant. In court papers, the city and Towill have said the suit is "without merit."

The head of SSFM International, another engineering firm that gave heavily to Harris and received lucrative city contracts, pleaded no contest last December to felony money laundering and misdemeanor campaign finance charges.

The executive, Michael Matsumoto, awaits sentencing. Three others associated with SSFM were charged with misdemeanors.

In May, an attorney for the Food Pantry grocery chain was indicted on two misdemeanor charges for allegedly orchestrating illegal campaign contributions to Harris. Edward Chun pleaded not guilty and a trial has been tentatively set for next month.

Reach Johnny Brannon at 525-8070 or jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.