Posted on: Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Contractor charged in political donations

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

City prosecutors have filed felony and misdemeanor charges against the former head of a large engineering firm in a probe of political donations.

Larry K. Matsuo, former chief executive officer of Park Engineering, was charged Monday with money laundering and making a campaign contribution under a false name, prosecutors said.

He faces up to five years in prison for the first charge and a year in jail for the second. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

Matsuo, 77, is the latest in a series of defendants linked to major government contractors who have been charged with campaign-related crimes over the past two years or been fined by the state Campaign Spending Commission.

The criminal charges have focused on illegal donations made to Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign committee. The fines have stemmed from donations to Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and other state and county officials.

No politicians or campaign leaders have been charged with wrongdoing, no direct links between campaign money and public contracts have been alleged in court, and no one has been imprisoned since the investigation began in early 2002. One defendant was sentenced to 10 days in jail but has yet to serve the term.

Park Engineering, also known as Paren Inc., was founded in 1958 and has worked on state highways and city parks, sewers, walkway and traffic improvements, and Honolulu Zoo projects.