Bank agrees to oversee trust of heiress
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii bank has agreed to supervise the trust of a 93-year-old Native Hawaiian heiress considered the last living Hawaiian princess, a report said.
First Hawaiian Bank has conditionally agreed in a court filing to take over as trustee of the Kawananakoa Trust.
Lawyers representing the $215 million estate of the heiress and her wife, Veronica Gail Worth, are expected to object to conditions set by the bank.
A hearing on the trustee appointment is scheduled for Aug. 15.
Abigail Kawananakoa is a descendent of the family that ruled the islands before the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893.
Kawananakoa is trying to regain control of her estate after suffering a stroke in 2017. A judge ruled last year that she lacks the mental capacity to manage the trust.
First Hawaiian Bank said it would cap its annual fees at $1.5 million and waive a settlement fee estimated at more than $2 million.
Yet the bank insists on the appointment of an independent guardian for Kawananakoa and an independent conservator to oversee her financial affairs outside the trust.
Body believed to be missing hiker found in forest
HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities say searchers have found the body of a man believed to be a hiker who went missing on a remote trail on Maui 10 days ago.
Maui Police Department spokesman Lt. Gregg Okamoto in a statement Wednesday said that the body was found about 400 feet below a steep ridge in an area only accessible by helicopter.
Rescuers had to be lowered in to retrieve the body thought to be that of 35-year-old Noah Mina, who went missing on May 20.
Ex-officer’s deal avoids jail for child sex assaults
HONOLULU (AP) — A plea deal with prosecutors will allow a former police officer to serve probation rather than jail time for sexually assaulting a child, reports said.
Teddy O. Van Lerberghe, 45, reached an agreement guaranteeing a five-year probation sentence with no jail, news outlets reported Wednesday.
The plea deal requires the former Honolulu officer to register as a convicted sex offender for life.
An Oahu grand jury indicted Van Lerberghe in 2017 on seven counts of sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl from 2004 to 2008.
