Another Twisted turn for La Mariana Hawaii

Strange one from the paper this morning...

From the Honolulu Advertiser 6-2-08

Artice here

Accused crook sues restaurant owner
Suspect in fraud scheme says he now controls La Mariana

The 93-year-old owner of La Mariana Sailing Club is fighting over the rights to her restaurant and business accounts with a man accused of masterminding an O'ahu mortgage fraud scheme.

John Gilbert Mendoza was arrested by the FBI on May 20 and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and making false statements on loan applications.

In a lawsuit he filed against Annette L. Nahinu on May 6, Mendoza claims she is breaching a management and operating agreement with Grace International Corp., a company Mendoza controls and that the FBI said was involved in the mortgage scheme.

Mendoza's lawsuit claims Nahinu signed over to Mendoza and Grace International control of the restaurant, its land, and the right to renegotiate the lease and title for the land and buildings owned by La Mariana Sailing Club Inc.

The alleged management agreement also allows Grace International to buy 4,500 shares of stock from Nahinu for $1, according to Mendoza's suit.

Nahinu's attorney, Edward M. Sanpei, in a written response to the suit, said Nahinu entered into no such agreement and that Nahinu "has no recollection of the agreement, or having ever met your client, Mr. Mendoza, nor even what he looks like."

She has "no desire, nor ever had any desire to have Grace International Corporation and Mr. Mendoza serve as operator and manager of the La Mariana Sailing Club," according to the letter.

Sanpei wrote that neither he nor Nahinu knew anything about the agreement until a copy showed up at his office April 28.

In December 2006, Nahinu put the 53-year-old operation up for sale at an asking price of $3 million.

The sale price would include 4,500 units of stock in the La Mariana Sailing Club, all of the property's decorative items and furniture and the rights to the La Mariana name.

The 5.5-acre property at the back of a dirt strip of roadway off Sand Island Access Road includes a patch of submerged land below Ke'ehi Lagoon, and has five years left on its $6,000-a-month lease with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

When the lease expires, it has to be rebid and its terms renegotiated, according to the DLNR's division of boating and ocean recreation.

James M. Sattler, an attorney for Mendoza, declined to discuss the federal fraud charges or the La Mariana Sailing Club lawsuit he filed on behalf of Mendoza. Sanpei and Nahinu could not be reached for comment.

Mendoza faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the federal charges.

This sounds like the case of a scumbag white collar criminal preying on and trying to rip off a very old woman.

I hope he fries if he's guilty

We can just keel-haul the punk under every boat in the harbor and hang what little is left from the La Mariana rafters.