Sentencing has been postponed for two Hilo lawyers and a Big Island businessman convicted of an affordable housing credits scam, as has sentencing of the prosecution’s star witness in the trio’s federal trial.
Attorney Gary Charles Zamber was to have been sentenced Tuesday and businessman Rajesh P. Budhabhatti on Wednesday, while attorney Paul J. Sulla Jr. was to have been sentenced on Oct. 21.
Sentencing for the 79-year-old Sulla is now scheduled for Jan. 7, while the 56-year-old Zamber and 65-year-old Budhabhatti are now scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, respectively.
The trio was found guilty June 4 by a Honolulu jury of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and nine counts of honest services wire fraud.
Sulla was additionally convicted of money laundering.
The three — whom prosecutors say operated their scheme from December 2014 until October 2021 — have filed post-convictions motions seeking new trials and/or acquittal.
Sulla and Zamber have been barred from the practice of law by the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
Sentencing for Alan Scott Rudo — a former housing specialist in the county Office of Housing and Community Development from 2006 to 2018 who testified against the three in their trial — is now set for Nov. 19.
U.S. District Judge Jill Otake, who heard the jury trial, will sentence all four.
Rudo pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud by awarding affordable housing credits to bogus limited liability companies established by the co-defendants, and then selling those credits to other developers for a profit.
Rudo’s alleged share of that profit was $1.93 million.
According to court documents and information presented in court, Rudo solicited and accepted multiple bribes and kickbacks from Sulla, Zamber and Budhabhatti while working for the OHCD.
Rudo approved three affordable housing agreements involving Luna Loa Developments LLC, West View Developments LLC and Plumeria at Waikoloa LLC.
These companies were variously owned, controlled and used by the defendants to obtain public benefits related to development projects in South Kohala, Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa.
Through the affordable housing agreements, the defendants fraudulently obtained at least $10.98 million worth of land and excess affordable housing credits, with no intention of developing affordable housing.
As part of his guilty plea, Rudo agreed to forfeit his interest in the recovered funds and housing credits, in addition to real estate connected to the charges. He also has agreed to a monetary judgment of more than $2.1 million against him.
The forfeitures by Rudo include: $938,428.16 from the sale of 7.15 acres on land on Kiwi Street in Kailua-Kona, seized by the federal government on June 4, 2021; $752,064.46 from the sale of 0.3 acres of land with a free-standing office building in Cape Coral, Fla., received by the federal government on Nov. 9, 2021; $499,626.34 from the sale of 2.7 acres of land on Hawaii Belt Road in Ninole, seized by the U.S. on Jan. 6, 2022; $133,771.33 from the sale of a house on 0.28 acres of land on Maiko Street in Hawaiian Beaches subdivision in Pahoa received by the U.S. on Jan. 31, 2022; 45 affordable housing credits issued by the county, seized by the U.S. on April 4, 2022; and proceeds of the sales of Lot 16-B and 16-C of the Kealakehe Homesteads in Kailua-Kona, titled in the name of West View Developments LLC, including appurtenances and improvements.
Honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, while money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
