An investigation of the board of directors of Bishop Museum prompted by a
formal complaint from loyalists of the ousted president and CEO has found no financial mismanagement or wrongdoing.
In a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Supervising Deputy Attorney General Nathan Chee of the Tax and Charities Division said, “The Department of the Attorney General has concluded its review of the complaint and related materials concerning Bishop
Museum. The department will take no further action with respect to the
complaint.”
An art dealer and an anthropologist had filed the complaint with the state Department of the Attorney General accusing Bishop Museum’s board of directors of breaching their
fiduciary duties and squandering the museum’s charitable assets.
Caroline Yacoe, owner of Pacific Pathways and a specialist in Melanesian art, joined Roger Rose, an anthropologist, in filing the complaint with the department’s Tax and Charities
Division on Dec. 21. The
14-page complaint, filed by Yacoe and Rose on behalf of “concerned citizens in the community,” called for an
investigation of the board
after three museum executives were placed on paid administrative leave in 2022 over alleged workplace
concerns.
Any member of the public wishing to call for an investigation of a nonprofit or charitable entity supported by public funds may file a complaint with the
division.
Whether the allegations made in a complaint warrant a formal probe by the division will be up to the department’s investigators.
Wayne Pitluck, chair of the board, told the Star-Advertiser in a statement, “Based on the documents we were asked to provide, we believe the investigation by the office of the Attorney General was thorough and thoughtful. We appreciate the AG’s exoneration, and we look forward to continuing the work that is already moving forward under our new CEO Dee Jay Mailer, her leadership team, and our dedicated staff.”
Bishop Museum, which welcomes about 200,000 visitors annually, is Hawaii’s top historical, cultural and research institution focused on Hawaii and other Pacific islands. It was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in honor of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last
descendant of the royal Kamehameha family.
The museum is home to a large collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms, including millions of cultural objects, documents, artworks and photographs, as well as more than 22 million biological specimens.
