There’s much to unpack from the stunning news that a wealthy developer with a notable presence in Hawaii has been indicted for alleged illegal campaign donations. The criminal case against JL Capital CEO Timothy Lee, 48, on nine felony counts of false-name contributions to two mayoral campaigns in 2020, stands to reveal an insidious “pay to play” culture on how business gets done in these islands. It’s encouraging to see recent good-government reforms manifesting into concrete actions against possible corruption.
To be sure, Lee is presumed innocent at this stage; he’s released on $250,000 bail, with arraignment and plea scheduled for today. An Oahu grand jury indicted him on Feb. 7 for intentionally or knowingly making $13,000 in contributions in another person’s name to the 2020 campaigns of mayoral candidates Keith Amemiya and Kymberly Pine. (Neither politician is under suspicion by investigators.)
Several factors make this an intriguing case:
>> The false-name contribution charge is a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. This is a rare instance that could involve prison time; over the past decade, campaign finance violators have rarely been criminally charged — and even then, defendants’ plea deals have resulted in fines only.
>> CEO Lee runs the prominent Honolulu-based investment firm, JL Capital, which has invested millions of dollars in Ala Moana-area properties. Its affiliate, JL Ala Moana LLC, developed the $500 million Sky Ala Moana condominium project, owned by Joon-ho Lee, who is among South Korea’s richest two dozen billionaires.
>> It was only in 2022 that a new anti-corruption unit in the Attorney General’s Office was created — the Special Investigation and Prosecution Division (SIPD) — after the bribery scandals of legislators J. Kalani English and Ty Cullen put a hot spotlight on political corruption. Today’s criminal case against Lee was turned over to SIPD after the state Campaign Spending Commission had investigated and fined Lee in 2021 for violating campaign laws: falsely using others’ names to circumvent campaign-contribution bundling laws to exceed the $4,000 limit in mayoral races.
SIPD’s inception was among the good-government reforms successfully enacted since 2022, championed by the blue-ribbon Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct. But more must be done to root out corruption and strengthen enforcement and to stop bad actors who perpetuate pay-to-play schemes. Lawmakers must pass legislation now under consideration:
>> Increasing staffing for the Campaign Spending Commission, which has just five employees and no investigator, but in 2024 had to monitor nearly $10 million in donations.
>> House Bill 372, to prohibit state and county elected officials from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions when the Legislature is in session.
>> HB 662 and Senate Bill 809, to limit the amount of campaign donations from a candidate’s “immediate family members” and the amount a candidate can donate to the campaign.
>> HB 371/SB 257, to prohibit state and county contractors and their immediate relatives from donating to candidates during the life of a contract.
>> HB 412, to void government contracts when there are violations of state lobbying laws, with the definition of lobbying expanded “to include certain communications with high-level government officials regarding procurement decisions.”
Campaign contributors must be put on notice that they are not above Hawaii’s laws that guard against undue influence and payoffs to gain access — just as much as lawmakers must guard against being corrupted.
“Campaign contribution laws are critical safeguards of our electoral process,” said state Attorney General Anne Lopez, who vowed to “vigorously investigate and prosecute individuals that violate those laws.”
That’s extremely necessary to hear, and see, on behalf of Hawaii’s citizens — most of whom are not millionaires, let alone billionaires, who enjoy special access or favors from policy makers. The laws, and their vigorous enforcement, guard against the rich and powerful accumulating so much influence that self-interest overtakes the public good.
