The state Board of Public Accountancy is scheduled to rule on a pending complaint involving the accounting license of former state representative Nathan Suzuki during its regular meeting at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Suzuki was indicted in 2002 on federal charges stemming from his role in aiding a Honolulu businessman in a scheme to evade taxes by secretly diverting more than $1.7 million to offshore accounts in Hong Tong and Tonga. The offenses alleged took place beginning in the early 1990’s and continuing until Suzuki pleaded guilty in 2004.

Suzuki has been released from federal prison after serving a three year sentence.

According to the meeting agenda, the board will consider adopting a draft order regarding Suzuki’s license (Item 3a: In the Matter of the Certified Public Accountant License of Nathan H. Suzuki ACC 2005-7-L).

State records show the complaint includes a number of allegations.

COMPLAINT NO: ACC-2005-0007L

ALLEGATION: FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH CHAPTER OR THE RULES AND REGULATIONS
ALLEGATION: CONVICTION RELATED TO PROFESSION
ALLEGATION: ENGAGING IN DISHONEST, FRAUDULENT, OR DECEITFUL ACTS
ALLEGATION: PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT
ALLEGATION: FAILURE TO MAINTAIN RECORD/HISTORY OF COMPETENCY, TRUSTWORTHINESS, FAIR DEALING A FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

ACTION: PETITION FILED DATE: 02/02/2007

OUTCOME: PENDING

A second pending complaint is apparently not being considered at this time.

COMPLAINT NO: REC-2005-0110L

ALLEGATION: FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH CHAPTER OR THE RULES AND REGULATIONS
ALLEGATION: FAILURE TO MAINTAIN RECORD/HISTORY OF COMPETENCY, TRUSTWORTHINESS, FAIR DEALING A FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

ACTION: PETITION FILED DATE: 02/02/2007

OUTCOME: PENDING

However, the public will not have an opportunity to review the proposed order before the board makes its ruling. The order and related materials are confidential and will remain secret until the board takes action, according to Kathleen Yokouchi, executive officer of the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division in the Dept.of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

“At this time the documents are considered confidential, but will become public as soon as the Board makes a final decision,” Yokouchi wrote yesterday in an email. “At that time, if you want a copy, it can be sent to you.”

State records available online list the status of Suzuki’s CPA license as “FORFEITED; NEEDS TO RESTORE“.

State law gives broad discretion to licensing boards in considering whether a prior criminal conviction provides grounds for revoking or rejecting a license.

When a conviction involves matters directly related to performance in a profession for which a license is required, a licensing board can consider evidence of crimes which occurred more than 10 years ago, indicating that these are considered more serious than crimes only indirectly related to professional activities.

In Suzuki’s case, the offenses were directly related to his actions as an accountant.

According to a Department of Justice press release at the time of the 2002 indictments:

As alleged in the indictment, Representative NATHAN H. SUZUKI, age 54, is charged with three (3) counts of filing false Form 1040 individual federal income tax returns for the tax years 1995, 1996 and 1997, with the Internal Revenue Service and two (2) counts of willful failure to disclose his financial interest in, or authority over, financial accounts located in Hong Kong and in the Kingdom of Tonga.

The indictment also alleges that during the calendar year 1996 an entity known as Harvest International King Coffee Ltd. had accounts located at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. over which Representative NATHAN H. SUZUKI held an interest in, or authority over, and transferred monies into accounts located in the Kingdom of Tonga, Switzerland and elsewhere. As further alleged in the indictment, some money transfers from the Kingdom of Tonga-based account of a Tongan entity, Pacific Vendors Equipment Ltd., were authorized from Representative NATHAN H. SUZUKI’S fax machine located at the House of Representatives, State of Hawaii Legislature.

According to a Star-Bulletin account,

The government also contends Suzuki benefited personally when, while making about $22,000 annually as a legislator, he made upward of $90,000 a year in 1995 and upward of $70,000 in 1996 and 1997 for doing accounting work on behalf of Boulware. During this time, Suzuki failed to report his financial interests in the offshore corporations and accounts.