Emphasis on yourself. I want to go to Tahiti. On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 3:37 PM, Lewis Bergman <[email protected]> wrote:
> He ought to be on a panel next year. He could give a class in his to > "leverage" government funds to better serve your customers and yourself > > On Thu, Oct 22, 2015, 3:26 PM Adam Moffett <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Seems like the government might want to scrutinize the ownership of >> vendors of funding recipients. It ought to send up a red flag when they're >> buying lots of things from themselves. >> >> >> On 10/22/2015 4:17 PM, Eric Kuhnke wrote: >> >> Sounds like this guy 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." >>> >> >>
