Posted on: Sunday, December 26, 2004
Unity House probed in 1990 assets transfer
| • | Unity House ties to politics examined |
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Legal complaints about Unity House finances, including its transfer of assets to an entity called the Hawaii Pacific Cinema Development Foundation, landed Unity House in a court-imposed receivership this month and once before in 1990, according to court records.
The 1990 receivership was ordered by then-Circuit Judge Robert Klein after Unity House founder Art Rutledge and his son, Tony, transferred some $26 million from Unity House to the Cinema Foundation and a related entity called the Hawaii Labor Foundation.
The money was later restored to Unity House.
The Advertiser first reported on the Cinema Foundation in 1981, quoting founder Art Rutledge as saying it controlled $1 million in "voluntary assessments" paid since 1960 by Hawaii Teamsters Union movie drivers.
The board of the foundation then included George "Tramp" Kawakami, a former movie driver who had been identified by the Honolulu Police Department in 1978 as a man with an extensive gambling record who was "involved with the local Hawai'i organized crime element."
Art Rutledge said he was aware of Kawakami's reputation but put no credence in it. Kawakami later served on the Unity House board.
Also on the board of the cinema foundation in 1981 were then-Maui County Council member Linda Lingle and Ed Brennan, the Republican Party national committee member for Hawai'i. Lingle said at the time that she did not know Kawakami and had resigned from the board because she was too busy with County Council work.
In 1989, a group of disgruntled Teamster movie drivers demanded refund of their contributions to the Cinema Foundation fund and complained to the FBI that the contributions had not been voluntary.
Art Rutledge called the complaints "childish" and said the cinema funds were intact.
"You can rest assured that whatever assets we've got, we have," the colorful Rutledge said.
The drivers never recovered any of their contributions.
In 1990, Judge Klein froze assets of Unity House and its related entities and installed a receiver to oversee the money pending resolution of a long-running legal dispute over elections to the Unity House board.
A slate of candidates headed by Tony Rutledge prevailed in new elections overseen by the court.
