OHA Trustees’ Settlement Cost $879,000 In Legal Fees
Updated: The state agency paid $614,000 to litigate Akana vs. Machado, while insurer AIG paid for $265,000.
A lawsuit settlement last month crafted by lawyers for trustees of the totaled $879,000 in legal fees.
OHA paid $614,000 while insurance company AIG paid $265,000.
The money was used to settle听a 2013 lawsuit by Trustee Rowena Akana against her eight colleagues and 10 unnamed individuals.
The lawsuit stemmed from minutes of closed-door board meetings related to a real estate purchase. The targeted trustees subsequently countersued.
As part of the settlement, made Nov. 14, Akana apologized for the public release of confidential board matters.
Update: The trustees also issued a statement saying it was in the interest of OHA and its Native Hawaiian beneficiaries to avoid a trial. Trustee Lei Ahu Isa told Civil Beat Friday that she did sign the agreement statement.
The legal fees disclosure resulted from a records request made by Civil Beat earlier this month.
$600 Million Trust
OHA attorney Paul Alston and OHA officials did not respond Thursday to requests for a copy of the settlement agreement.
Asked for a breakdown of OHA鈥檚 share of the legal fees, Public Relations Officer Sterling Wong said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take us a little bit of time to figure out the details of where the funds came from.听And a bunch of our fiscal staff is out on vacation.听We will get back to you as soon as possible.鈥
As of 2016, OHA was听a trust valued at $600 million.听For funding, it relies听on a combination of public trust land revenue, interest and investment earnings, state general fund monies, commercial property leases and withdrawals from a trust fund.
OHA provided more than $14 million in grants in one year to qualified individuals and groups, which comprised nearly one-third of OHA鈥檚 then-$48 million operating budget. About $3 million also went to the听.
