Category Archives: Consumer issues

Tricks of the trade

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Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, the flagship of Mike Miske’s group of companies, was twice voted the #1 pest control company in the annual “Hawaii’s Best” readers’ poll, taking top honors in 2014 and 2019, if I recall correctly.

I’m sure they had some genuine supporters.

But they also had a few tricks to influence the poll results.

This photo was introduced during Miske’s ongoing racketeering trial in federal court.

It shows a number of Kamaaina employees in company shirts sitting around a conference table hard at work filling out multiple ballots. It appears they’ve been at it for a while, as most have water or other drinks with them.

Of course, the newspaper clearly stating that this doesn’t pretend to be a scientific poll.

Results were published with a caveat: “This is not a scientific poll; results reflect the opinions of only those voting.”

Nonetheless, this certainly makes you wonder whether this is common among other companies as well.

Scammer alert: Beware the gift card fraud

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Beware any requests to help a friend by purchasing a gift card.

This morning I received an email from a friend that I’ve been in contact with recently trying to arrange a time to have lunch. His email arrived just before 7 a.m.

“Sorry to bother you, do you shop from Amazon? Thanks, David [last name withheld]”

“All the time,” I replied, not yet suspecting a scam. “What are you doing up at this hour?”

He usually stays up to the wee hours of the morning, then sleeps late into the next day.

But his reply felt strangely disconnected.

“How are you doing today? Good to hear from you. I need to get an Apple E-Gift Card for a friend of mine who is diagnosed with stage 4 mesothelioma cancer, She lost her only daughter to the disease (COVID-19), it’s her birthday but I can’t do this now. I tried purchasing it online but unfortunately, I got no luck on that. Wondering if you could help me take care of this through Amazon online or get it from any store around you? and I’ll reimburse you once I get back home.

Please let me know so I can provide you with her email and amount.

Awaits your response,

David

At this point, I recognized the now quite infamous gift card scam. Someone impersonating a friend contacts you for help. Often it’s via a phone call, but in this case an email.

But now that I figured it out, I took a closer look at his email.

This particular scammer was pretty unskilled.

The original email gave him away, as it appears to have included the scammer’s email.

“from: David S. ” But the return address was different, made up of my friend’s last name (misspelled, but close enough that you might not notice it) @hotmail.com.

So I replied to the scam return address: “Sure, David. I’ll give you a call for the info.”

The scammer made another half-hearted attempt.

“Where you able to call?”

At this point, I took a screen shot of the exchange and emailed my friend at his actual address, warning him of the fraud in his name.

So, beware any unusual requests, even if they “look” real. Trust no one.

Judge allows testimony regarding fraud in sale of fireworks by Miske-linked company

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Attorneys representing accused racketeering boss Michael J. Miske Jr. lost their bid to block testimony concerning allegations involving falsified records of fireworks imported by a company Miske controlled.

In a motion filed Monday, the defense attorneys argued that the evidence is “irrelevant and inadmissable.”

Count One alleges a pattern of racketeering activity consisting of…obstruction of justice),…and wire fraud. Prior to trial, the government notified Mr. Miske that its evidence related to these offenses included evidence that, in around 2011:

(1) another individual allegedly falsely reported to the ATF that fireworks had been stolen from a bunker (obstruction of justice);2 and

(2) Mr. Miske conspired with one or more other individuals to make a fraudulent insurance claim in connection with the fireworks which had been reported stolen (wire fraud).

It appears that the government also intends to introduce evidence that
Richard Macguyer submitted permits to the Honolulu Fire Department in March 2010, which purported to authorize individual consumers to purchase and use consumer grade firecrackers on December 31, 2009 (New Year’s Eve) (see Government Trial Exhibits 6-82 and 6-85), but which were allegedly counterfeit.

The motion argued that the fraudulent permits for use of consumer fireworks were not linked to federal charges of illegal sale of commercial grade fireworks, and therefore irrelevant. In addition, they argued that multiple witnesses regarding the fireworks issues would result in “undue” trial delays.

The memo objecting to the three witnesses was filed at 3:31 p.m. on Monday, April 1.

Judge Derrick Watson filed an order denying the motion. His order was file just nine minutes later, at 3:40 p.m.

On April 1, 2024, Defendant Michael J. Miske filed a written objection to the testimony of three witnesses (Stephen Kishida, Alford Ortiz, and Mark Merriam) listed on the government’s witness list for the day (“objection”). Dkt. No. 1389. Upon review of the same and consideration of the parties’ oral argument, the objection is OVERRULED. Based upon the parties’ indications of the expected testimony and/or evidence to be elicited on the subject at issue allegedly fraudulent permit applications for the use of consumer fireworks — the same is relevant under Federal Rule of Evidence 401, not unfairly prejudicial or otherwise inappropriate under Federal Rule of Evidence 403, and not excludable under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). IT IS SO ORDERED.

In testimony yesterday, witnesses said almost 700 fraudulent applications permits for consumer purchase of fireworks had been prepared and filed with the Honolulu Fire Department by Island Weddings and Special Events LLC, dba Grand Finale, a Miske-linked company that advertised fireworks for private parties. However, a retired HFD inspector testified that he noticed the all were time stamped at exactly the same time and date. Police were notified, and a detective assigned to the case. However, time passed and it appeared no follow-up occurred. Eventually the fire department staffer was transferred, and the detective retired. At some point, the box of fraudulent permit applications was thrown away. However, the original inspector had retained two permits. One was filed in the name of someone who was already dead at the time the permit application was supposedly signed and filed, others reportedly used names taken from a telephone book.

Testimony continues today.

The elusive “charms” of LGB

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[As much as I enjoyed writing this, I subsequently realized that the part of the experience involving repeated forays out into the rain were the result of extremely unusual amounts of rain falling over several days. The LA Times reported that the airport received 11-times its average amount of rain over the past 7 days. So perhaps our experience was abnormal, at least the “walking in the rain” part of it.]

Over the weekend, we mentioned to a longtime friend that we were going to be flying into the local airport in Long Beach, California (“LGB” for those who enjoy airport acronyms).

She was enthusiastic about this small airport, and explained how she much preferred landing there instead of in the huge LAX airport in Los Angeles. Easier to deal with, she said.

Well, our Hawaiian Airlines flight landed in Long Beach about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The experience to follow was, well, to be blunt…terrible.

First shock. No covered jetways here to protect from the elements. It’s back to the old days I can recall at Hawaii airports, where the open stairways were maneuvered up to the door of the aircraft. This was a major surprise last night since (a) it’s a lot colder here in Long Beach in February than at home, and (b) it was raining.

The flight crew made an announcement before we deplaned, warning that it was raining, the ramp was wet, it was likely to be slippery, and we should cling for dear life to the hand rails. Well, maybe they didn’t put it quite like that, but it was close!

Okay, we made it down the ramp in the rain and expected that we would be able to quickly enter the terminal to escape the precipitation, especially since we weren’t dressed for either wet or cold.

But, no. We were instead directed along the outside of the terminal building, yes, still in the rain, and sent to the left towards the baggage claim area which was in a separate building requiring, once again, walking in the rain to reach it.

So we finally arrived, damp and cold, and waited, and waited, for luggage to start appearing on Baggage Claim #2.

In the background, a recorded message bragged that this is considered the “preferred” airport by many area travelers.

That bit of news came as I made the next discovery. There are no restrooms in the baggage claim area. Get off your five hour flight from Honolulu, stand in the rain, skip through the puddles to baggage claim and…well, if nature calls, there’s a temporary sign, with arrow pointing into the darkness, advising that the nearest restrooms are located in the ticket lobby.

And, guess what? That requires going out into the rain again. So I joined the queue of people heading brightly lit lobby across the open courtyard, and then returning. Both ways requiring another minute in the cold rain.

So far, well…so far.

Okay. We finally retrieved our bags and went to look for a taxi. There was a large arrow pointing out into the dark and the rain, toward “ground transportation.”

Well, that was the last signage to be seen. So we had to go on safari looking for the taxi line. By now, the rain had thankfully tapered off, but we were reduced to stopping people on the sidewalk in front of the terminal asking where we would get a taxi. No one we talked to had any idea. All they could say was, “welcome to Long Beach!”

After standing there for several minutes quizzing passersby and feeling stupid, I spotted several taxis out on the other side of the airport access road, near the parking lot.

We walked toward the nearest taxi, and the driver looked up and pointed into the darkness around the corner of the building.

So off we went, dragging the suitcases through a few more puddles, to finally see a taxi stand, hidden out of view from anywhere near the terminal. And, as mentioned, there was no visible signage.

I guess this airport isn’t really here for first-time visitors, but for seasoned local travelers who know where they’re going.

Or perhaps it was just that there were signs and directions somewhere along the way that aren’t visible after dark.

Whatever.

To our friend, I have to say that this small airport’s “charm” wasn’t evident to us.