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On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 1:50 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Yeah, that was the beginning of the end. The undersea cable between > islands was the thing that brought it all down. There were other cables > there that he was using and it was actually NECA that put a stop to the > duplicate facilities. But more than that, the whole island had phone > service from GTE before this company was even formed. He was allowed, > similar to a Native American tribal deals, to make a new telephone company > to totally overbuild the island. > > *From:* Adam Moffett <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, October 22, 2015 2:18 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] ISPs “reminded” to not use government money for > alcohol and vacations > > Wow > > On 10/22/2015 4:17 PM, Eric Kuhnke wrote: > > Sounds like this guy ruined it for everyone. > > Since 2002, Sandwich Isles Communications has collected $242,489,940 from > the federal > Universal Service Fund to serve no more than 3,659 customers. > 2 > During that same time, Albert Hee, the > owner of Sandwich Isles’s parent company Waimana Enterprises and affiliate > ClearCom, apparently used > the company as his family’s personal piggy bank. For example, the > companies apparently paid $96,000 > so that Hee could receive two > - > hour massages twice a we > ek; $119,909 for personal expenses, including > family trips to Disney World, Tahiti, France, and Switzerland and a four > - > day family vacation at the > Mauna Lani resort; $736,900 for college tuition and housing expenses for > Hee’s three children; > $1,300,000 for > a home in Santa Clara, California for his children’s use as college > housing; and > $1,676,685 in wages and fringe benefits for his wife and three children. > 3 > That’s not all. When the FCC last looked at Sandwich Isles’s corporate > expenses, our staff found > tha > t it was spending $5,460,973 more on corporate operations each year than > similarly sized companies, > with significant management and leasing fees to affiliated companies (like > Waimana and ClearCom) that > benefited Hee and his family. > 4 > On top of all that, sev > en years ago, Sandwich Isles dropped a $1.9 > - > million > - > a > - > year lease it had with > an independent undersea cable network in favor of a $15 > - > million > - > a > - > year lease for a cable network built by > ClearCom and owned by Paniolo LLC. > 5 > Unsurprisingly, Paniolo is itself ow > ned by Blue Ivory LLC, > which is wholly owned by Blue Ivory Hawaii Corporation, which in turn is > owned by private trusts of > Hee’s three children. > 6 > What is worse, Sandwich Isles appears to no longer be paying what it owes > to > Paniolo > — > yet is still collecting > payments from other rural telephone companies as if it were. > > > On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 1:14 PM, Steve <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Already trying to control the money. This is why we opted out of getting >> involved in any form of Government program. It just allows them to keep >> their fingers up your ass and use you as a puppet. >> >> >> http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/isps-reminded-to-not-use-government-money-for-alchohol-and-vacations/ >> >> Internet service providers who accept government funding in exchange for >> providing Internet access in rural areas were "reminded" this week that >> they're not allowed to use the money for food, alcohol, entertainment, >> personal travel, and other expenses unrelated to providing Internet access. >> >> The Federal Communications Commission issued a public notice with a >> "non-exhaustive list of expenditures" that cannot be reimbursed. The list >> includes all of the above as well as political contributions, charitable >> donations, scholarships, payment of penalties and fines, club membership >> fees, sponsorships of conferences and community events, gifts to employees, >> and personal expenses of employees and family members "including but not >> limited to personal expenses for housing, such as rent or mortgages." >> > > > >
