BUSINESS BRIEFS
Marriott bus tour hits road again
Advertiser Staff
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The success of Marriott Resorts Hawai'i's Spirit of Aloha promotional bus tour of the West Coast, Midwest and East Coast has prompted the company to schedule new promotional road trips in Japan and the U.S. Southwest.
Marriott, in partnership with Japan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and the Polynesian Cultural Center, plans to hit the road Oct. 4-13 in Japan and Jan. 18-Feb. 12, 2010, in the Southwest.
"Japan and the Southwest U.S. are important markets for Hawai'i that have cooled in the current economy and need stimulating," said Ed Hubennette, Marriott International vice president for North Asia, Hawai'i and the South Pacific.
DUCK TOURS FINED FOR TAX LAPSE
The Hawai'i Department of Taxation said Maui Duck Tours LLC has been found guilty of failing to file annual general excise tax returns during a six-year period.The department said Miles Needham of Maui Duck Tours also was found guilty of failing to file the returns for the firm. The firm and Needham were fined $6,000.
Maui Duck Tours also was ordered to pay $96,962 to cover the general excise taxes due to the state.
WELLCARE TO PAY $80M IN FLA. CASE
Florida's largest Medicaid managed care provider will be allowed to avoid criminal prosecution for healthcare fraud if it pays $80 million in restitution, under an agreement announced yesterday by the U.S. Attorney's Office.Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans Inc. was charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud the Florida Medicaid program and Florida Healthy Kids Corporation of $40 million. WellCare also has offices in seven other states, including Hawai'i, that were not involved in the wrongdoing.
U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton said he is confident prosecutors could convict WellCare, but that doing so would likely put the insurer out of business, harming Floridians who depend on the company for healthcare.
