The Hawaii State Ethics Commission has fined Hawaii Tourism Authority CEO George Szigeti and three other tourism officials more than $12,000 for allegedly violating the state’s Ethics Code when accepting and soliciting travel upgrades for business trips.

State rules require employees to travel by coach class when on state business.

The commission alleges the tourism officials accepted, and in some cases solicited, free upgrades on international flights while traveling in their official capacity as state employees. The officials also failed to disclose the gifts as required by law.

“This is not a trivial matter,” the commission said. “HTA has had contracts valued at over $1 million with Japan Airlines, which provided Szigeti with business- class upgrades and special lounge privileges. He was provided with privileges not given to other state employees because of his important position and influence in tourism promotion for our state.”

Szigeti; Chief Operating Officer Randy Baldemor; and Jadie Goo, director of marketing for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, have been assessed administrative fines ranging from $1,750 to $6,000. David Uchiyama, former vice president of brand management for HTA, has been fined $2,500.

Following an investigation, the Ethics Commission issued formal charges in August, alleging the four executives had likely violated the Ethics Code, which governs the acceptance of gifts and unwarranted privileges by state employees. The cases were confidential until last week when the commission issued individual “resolution of charge” notices.

The commission decided to resolve the investigations without further action by imposing administrative penalties. The resolutions do not constitute admissions of guilt by the employees or findings of violations by the commission.

“Settlement agreements are reached instead of going through the full formal process,” said Daniel Gluck, executive director of the Ethics Commission, which enforces the Ethics Code. Two of the fines have been paid in full, while two others are being paid in installments, Gluck said.

As a state agency, HTA’s employees are covered by the Ethics Code. HTA’s duties include marketing, developing and supporting Hawaii’s tourism economy.

“In general, the fair treatment law prevents state officials from getting extra perks or benefits by virtue of being state officials,” Gluck said.

The gifts law bans employees from soliciting, accepting or receiving any gift if it can be “reasonably inferred” that it’s intended to influence or reward the employee’s performance.

In Szigeti’s case, he admitted he accepted “courtesy upgrades” to business class twice from Japan Airlines when traveling on state business.

Szigeti, who joined HTA as president and CEO in 2015, accepted the upgrades on round-trip travel from Honolulu to Tokyo in August 2015, and on round-trip travel from Honolulu to Guangzhou, China, in October 2015. He received the smallest fine: $1,750.

“As the head of HTA’s staff, it is incumbent upon Mr. Szigeti to set — and exhibit — high standards of ethical conduct for the agency,” the Ethics Commission wrote in its resolution agreement.

One commissioner, Susan DeGuzman, disagreed with part of the agreement, arguing that Szigeti’s identity should not be made public. In a dissenting opinion, she said she believed Szigeti’s acceptance of unsolicited travel upgrades was inadvertent, occurring soon after he joined the authority.

Baldemor, HTA’s COO, meanwhile, received the largest fine of $6,000. He admitted he accepted courtesy flight upgrades to business class on six work trips in 2015 and 2016 and acknowledged directing an assistant to solicit upgrades from Japan Airlines, China Airlines and Air China.

Before joining HTA in 2015, Baldemor previously held appointed state positions as director of strategic initiatives under Gov. Neil Abercrombie, deputy chief information officer, and deputy director of the Tax Department.

According to his resolution agreement, Baldemor had argued that HTA had a past custom of seeking free upgrades for travel.

“In this respect, Baldemor is correct: Several HTA employees did engage in an inappropriate and unlawful practice of accepting upgrades prior to Baldemor’s arrival at HTA,” the commission wrote. “Under the Ethics Code, however, it is no excuse that others engage in a similar practice; each employee has an independent obligation to follow the Ethics Code.”

In an emailed statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Szigeti said the practice has stopped.

“We have put a policy in place strictly forbidding any courtesy travel upgrades when conducting business on behalf of the Hawaii Tourism Authority,” he said. “We regret that this happened and appreciate the clarification from the Ethics Commission that courtesy travel upgrades are not available to any state employee.”

Goo, who has worked at HTA since 2006, admitted she solicited or accepted upgrades to business class for four trips on Japan Airlines and China Airlines from 2014 to 2016. She was fined $2,000.

Uchiyama, who worked at HTA from 2007 to 2015, admitted he solicited flight upgrades for three trips, including first-class upgrades on Air China from Guangzhou to Beijing in November 2014 and from Beijing to Shanghai a few days later.

Uchiyama, who was dismissed in 2015 amid a reorganization led by Szigeti, was most recently president and CEO for Island Air, which ceased operations last month. He did not respond to a request for comment.

To view the resolution agreements, go to ethics.hawaii.gov/rocs.