Inouye said police had fielded a number of reports in recent months from area residents who complained about seeing what appeared to be homeless people breaking into the warehouse and other buildings on the property bounded by Queen, South and Keawe streets.

"Our officers had gone by there a couple of times in the past, but the people who were squatting there would lock themselves in," Inouye said. "Without the owner's permission, our officers could not force entry into the buildings."

After determining who owned the buildings, Kawamoto was contacted in Japan and met with his representatives in Hawai'i and police at the warehouse site at about 9 a.m. Thursday, Inouye said.

When police forced their way in, they found five or six people in one of the buildings "with many of the comforts of home," Inouye said.

"Mr. Kawamoto is kind of a soft-hearted guy, and he really didn't want to press charges against any of them," Inouye said.

However, a 40-year-old man found hiding in a crawl space was arrested for trespassing. Two other men, ages 47 and 50, were arrested on outstanding warrants for contempt of court.

It is possible the people found inside the building could be charged with other crimes, if police can establish that the goods in the warehouse were stolen and tie the theft or possession with those people. But "it could be difficult," Inouye said. "Just because you find them there next to the property, that doesn't necessarily put them in possession of it."

Police recovered a sizable number of long-distance telephone calling cards still attached to their cardboard backing, suggesting they were stolen from a retailer, Inouye said.

They believe the warehouse had running water and electricity until about a month ago.

"I guess when you have that much money and that many properties, you might not be aware that one of them is abandoned and still has water and power," Inouye said.

He said police asked Kawamoto to have his workers secure the building and make periodic checks to ensure no one tries to move back in.

"Our officers will make several checks a day over the next several weeks, too, to make sure no one tries to move back in," Inouye said.

John Pierre "Pete" Manaut, Kawamoto's lawyer, said his client had been aware of trespassing concerns, but had no knowledge anything illegal might being taking place at the site. He said Kawamoto wanted to give the people found in the buildings a chance to move out and take their belongings with them.

Kawamoto bought most of the undeveloped block in 1989. Early last year, he said he hoped to advance his plan for a 20-story tower with 230 large one-bedroom units, either for sale or rent to a middle-income market.

He became a symbol of Hawai'i's Japanese real estate boom in the 1980s, when he paid cash for houses while driving around neighborhoods in a white limousine. He paid $42.5 million for the former Portlock estate of Henry Kaiser, considered at the time a record real estate purchase price. Then Kawamoto walked away when he refused to pay the $1 million-per-year leasehold fee to the Bishop Estate.