Fong pays creditors $1.7M
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Fong borrowed $2,095,600 from an outside lender to purchase 806 shares of stock in Market City Ltd., one of the companies Fong once controlled, according to court documents.
Fong paid $2,600 per share, which went to Ronald K. Kotoshirodo, the Chapter 7 trustee in the case, according to Kotoshirodo's attorney, Jerrold K. Guben.
Of Fong's $2.095 million payment, $1.7 million went to secured creditors and $350,000 went directly to the estate, Guben said.
"This settles probably 40 to 50 percent of the case. It's a major portion of the case to get that resolved now," he said.
Fong, 97, is America's first Asian-American senator and a self-made millionaire several times over. But in the past few years, Fong's health has suffered and his financial fortunes have fallen.
Fong also has spent the past few years tied up in legal disputes with his family over control of various Fong family assets.
The Fongs have interests in at least three separate businesses and boards — Market City Ltd., which owns the Market Center Shopping Center; Finance Factors Ltd., which the former senator helped found in 1952; and Ocean View Cemetery Ltd., whose holdings include the Ka'ahumanu Building in 'Aiea, a 50 percent interest in the historic Kress Building in Hilo, Hawai'i, and the Ocean View Cemetery near Kahala Mall.
Fong's bankruptcy attorney, Harrison Chung, declined comment yesterday except to say that the stock purchase agreement was effective Jan. 9. Fong's personal attorney did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Fong's son, Hiram Fong Jr., said neither he nor his father had a comment.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
