Category Archives: Fraud

The rest of the story (coming soon)

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Regular visitors to this site might have thought the name of James Hall, central to the tale in yesterday’s post (“The squatters next door“) sounded familiar.

Indeed, it should have.

He was also central to a post back in October 2021, “The hotel next door,” which identified Hall as the owner of a multi-million dollar Nuuanu home that was the site of the April 2021 incident in which Honolulu police officers shot and killed a man when responding to a 911 call.

Yes, it’s the same person.

And the rest of the story, which I hope to post in the not-too-distant future, looks at the unlikely story of how, in a matter of months, Hall went from squatter to owner of a large home appraised for real property tax purposes at more than $3.2 million.

It’s Part 3 of this trilogy, and another curiously twisted saga. Coming soon. Hopefully.

Panel of federal judges named to rule on Dubin disbarment

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Attorney Gary Dubin appears closer to losing his license to practice in the federal court system.

If you’re not familiar with Dubin, I’ll include some background at the end of this post.

A quick summary. Dubin was disbarred by the Hawaii Supreme Court last year, and after a series of appeals and requests for reconsideration, the order of disbarment became effective November 9, 2020.

Once the Hawaii order became effective, reciprocal discipline proceedings were initiated in Honolulu’s  US District Court and in the 9th Circuit.

Dubin was able to stall those by announcing he was going to seek an ordering staying any further action while he prepared an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

He did manage to delay action by the Hawaii court and the 9th Circuit, pending his appeals to the Supreme Court.

He failed in two attempts to obtain a stay, turned down first by Justice Kegan, who was assigned such matters for the 9th Circuit, and later by the full court, after appealing to Justice Thomas. But he did finally file an appeal to the Supreme Court, which the court declined to accept, without comment.

That set the Honolulu District Court back into action. On April 12, 2021, US District Court Judge Jill Otake slammed Dubin for failing to notify the court that the US Supreme Court had rejected his case.

From the court docket.

EO: Respondent is ordered to explain, by 4/13/21, why he has not informed the Court about the 4/5/21 denial of his petition for writ of certiorari. In his 3/31/21 Status Report, Respondent represented that he would notify the Court when the Supreme Court ruled upon his petition. ECF No. 17. The Court has cautioned, on multiple occasions, that Respondent’s failure to apprise the Court within one (1) business day of filings and developments in other proceedings that may bear up on this case may result in the imposition of reciprocal discipline.

Two days later, on April 14, Otake issued an order lifting the stay on the pending reciprocal disciplinary proceedings, which had been on hold.

Dubin legal strategy now took two paths. First, he filed a new long, rambling federal lawsuit in which he is represented by Keith Kiuchi, but he also purports to represent hundreds of his former clients who, according to the complaint, have been damaged by Dubin’s disbarment. Remember that, for now, he is still licensed to practice in federal court. At least until the reciprocal discipline proceedings run their course. The new lawsuit is just a mishmash of previous arguments, repackaged from what was presented at the Hawaii Supreme Court, long, windy, but in the end without apparent substance. It does, however, keep the ball in the air for now.

Then, in order to stall the reciprocal discipline docket, Dubin, through Kiuchi, argued that he should be granted an “evidentiary hearing” at which he said he would examine witnesses and question them about possible skullduggery, that he likes to claim, accounted for the disbarment order. More delay while this was argued.

Then, on July 8, Judge Otake signed an order rejecting Dubin’s demand for an evidentiary hearing.

“Respondent (Dubin) is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing and he has not pointed to any authority establishing otherwise,” Otake said in her order. In making its decision, the court has access to the records of the Hawaii Supreme Court case that led to the disbarment order.

Further, he order states: “Respondent is not entitled to submit additional evidence or conduct discovery in other proceedings for presentation here.” This limits the use of the new litigation to stall the reciprocal proceedings, pretty much closing off that path.

One exception is that the order allows Dubin to submit a declaration by former Gov. John Waihee, who was on paper his co-counsel in before the Hawaii Supreme Court.

Finally, J. Michael Seabright, chief judge for the District of Hawaii, appointed a three-judge hearing panel to consider “this reciprocal discipline matter,” consisting of Judge Leslie Kobayashi, Judge Jill Otake, and Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield.

“Judge Otake shall serve as panel chair, and the date of the hearing shall be determined by the panel,” the order states.

Dubin can’t be counted out, as he has proved to be a master of delay and obfuscation. However, it appears that Dubin is now close to a legal checkmate.

See:

Attorney Gary Dubin disbarred by order of the Hawaii Supreme Court, September 10, 2020.

Dubin responds to Supreme Court’s Disbarment Order, September 12, 2020.

Court affirms disbarment of attorney Gary Dubin, September 30, 2020.

Dubin wins temporary delay in 9th Circuit reciprocal disclipline, October 14, 2020.

Supreme Court: “…Dubin is now disbarred from the practice of law.” November 10, 2020.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Dubin appeal, April 19, 2021.

Con artists are still pitching those sovereignty scams

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It looks like there’s another Hawaiian sovereignty scam that is dangling “too good to be true” offers before potential victims. And unfortunately there are still people gullible or trusting enough to buy in before realizing they’ve been conned.

I was contacted this week by a woman who grew up on Maui but is now living on the mainland. She passed along some details about a relative who has been trying to scam other family members spread across the globe, from France to Hawaii, the Philippines, and Singapore. The scam is a variant of one that’s been around for years. What isn’t clear yet is whether her aunt is acting on her own, or whether she is linked to the “Privy Council” and “lawyers” for a larger sovereignty group, as the scammer has claimed in emails to her potential victims.

Frauds like this are called “affinity scams.” The pitch is made by someone who is an “insider” and, hence, considered a trusted member of the group or organization, a church, religious denomination, neighborhood group, political or professional group, or as in this case, an extended family. (See “The Allure and Danger of Affinity Fraud,” or “Affinity Fraud: How to Avoid Investment Scams That Target Group“).

This pitch goes something like this.

The Hawaiian Kingdom is now pressing a lawsuit that could lead to independence, and at the same time is in negotiations with the UN toward the same end, according to the scammer. And the as-yet-unrecognized Hawaiian Kingdom happens to have a well-endowed treasury, with funds due to be distributed to registered Hawaiian nationals soon after the kingdom’s sovereignty is recognized.

And there’s big money in the treasury, more than needed to reward people now in Hawaii. So, the scammers say, relatives living outside of Hawaii can now register as part of the Hawaiian Kingdom and become part of the group that will get a payout when the treasury funds are dispersed.

All it requires is a “sponsor,” and a payment somewhere between $2,500 and $5,000 as “a processing fee for Hawaiian Kingdom registration.”

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