BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc. has 50 total employees across all of its locations and generates 12.539522 million in sales (USD). [Hawaii news on the go–LISTEN to KHON 2GO weekday mornings at 7:30 a.m.]. As the Commission determined in 2016, and reaffirmed last year, Sandwich Isles has no claim to a single dime of the $27 million it improperly obtained from the Fund. In 2014, cyber thieves were able to collect the personal information of nearly 79 million Americans, including more than 43,000 Hawaii residents. Hee, EB-IHD-15-00019603. Fiber-optic internet from Sandwich Isles Communications is available to an estimated 10,000 people.. Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. operates as a local telecommunications company. The Commission’s federal High-Cost universal support program allows eligible carriers that serve high-cost areas to recover some of their costs from the Fund to help defray the costs of building and maintaining telecommunications plant to service rural and high-cost areas. The forfeiture order released today finds that Sandwich Isles, Waimana, and Hee are jointly and severally liable for the full proposed penalty of $49,598,448. But Albert Hee—then the sole shareholder of Sandwich Isles and its parent company, Waimana Enterprises—had different ideas. We also proposed to impose a forfeiture of $49.6 million on the company. Chairman Pai, Commissioners O’Rielly, Carr, Rosenworcel, and Starks approving. This business is in an industry that may require professional licensing, bonding or registration. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. breach of certain promissory notes by Defendant Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc. (“Sandwich Isles” or “SIC”) . Sandwich Isles Communications founder fined $49 million by FCC by Web Staff / Sep 30, 2020 HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Sandwich Isles Communications and … Sandwich Isles also used Universal Service support to pay Waimana inflated rent and management fees as well as unjustified bonuses to Hee. The American people, and particularly, those living in the Hawaiian Homelands, deserve better. BBB information and Business Profiles reflect the most current information available to us. And thankfully, there is good news ahead. Next month, bidding will kick off in the $16 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, and unserved parts of Sandwich Isles’ former service area will be eligible for bidding by service providers who will use taxpayer dollars to bring broadband to unserved Americans living there—not for massages, vacations, and cars.
In 2015, Hee was convicted of criminal tax fraud and sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison. Also, many businesses are closed, suspended, or not operating as usual, and are unable to respond to complaints and other requests. HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Honolulu police need your help solving yet another violent robbery targeting an elderly woman. HONOLULU (KHON2) — The state will be collecting more than $156,000 for a data breach involving health insurance provider Anthem. The company announced it is opening a new grocery store concept called KAHALA MKT. International Association of Better Business Bureaus. We appreciate your patience as we and everyone in our communities focus on addressing this crisis. Over the course of nearly 15 years, Sandwich Isles Communications received millions of dollars through the Commission’s Universal Service Fund. Sandwich Isles was the designated carrier receiving support to deploy and maintain communications networks serving Americans living on the Hawaiian Homelands through the Fund’s High-Cost program, which is designed to ensure that consumers in rural and other high-cost areas have access to modern communications networks. Hee was engaged in a long-running scheme to use corporate funds from Sandwich Isles, Waimana, and several other affiliated companies he controlled to pay numerous personal expenses for himself and members of his family, including more than $90,000 to his personal masseuse, family vacations to Europe and the South Pacific, his children’s college tuition, vehicles, and inflated salaries for his wife and children.
PO Box 893370.
Hee used his control of Sandwich Isles, Waimana, and other affiliated companies to tap corporate funds to pay for more than $4 million in personal expenses benefitting himself and his family, including personal massages, personal travel and meals, tuition payments for Hee’s children, a vehicle and home for Hee’s children, and salaries and benefits paid to Hee’s wife and children while they did not actually perform any work for Waimana. Hee, EB-IHD-15-00019603 Over the course of nearly 15 years, Sandwich Isles Communications received millions of dollars through the Commission’s Universal Service Fund.
HONOLULU (KHON2) --A new Foodland is coming to the Kahala area this November. By Kevin Dayton kdayton@staradvertiser.com; Nov. 23, 2018 GEORGE F. LEE / 2015. HONOLULU (KHON2) -- An Oahu man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly plotting to blow up a Honolulu high rise.
Telephones.
And following an investigation by USAC that uncovered Hee’s and Sandwich Isles’ misappropriation of Universal Service Fund money, the Commission barred Sandwich Isles from siphoning any more money from the Fund and sought to recover the $27 million Sandwich Isles overcharged the Fund. As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. Be the first to review! We’ll guide you through the process. Please check out resources available to you at BBB.org/coronavirus. In addition to fiber broadband, Sandwich Isles Communications also offers DSL internet service. Copyright 2020 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. And this was no accounting error or honest misunderstanding of the Commission’s rules. Mililani, HI 96789-0370. BBB remains operational and focused on serving our business community and our consumers throughout this crisis.
Read more. Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc.’s Comments and Response to Notice of Apparent Liability and Forfeiture Order, WC Docket No. It was a willful effort to defraud the Universal Service Fund—essentially, all taxpayers—for private gain. Given the core importance of this program to serving America’s broadband needs, the Commission has an ongoing obligation to ensure that universal service funds are used properly, and to protect the Universal Service Fund from waste, fraud, and abuse.
Full Title: In the Matter of Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc.; Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating, Location of This BusinessPO Box 893370, Mililani, HI 96789-0370Email this Business, Need to file a complaint? Some of the sources of information BBB relies on are temporarily unavailable. 10-90 (filed Feb. 3, 2017). Anthem did not disclose the breach until a year later. BBB is here to help.
Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc.
Re: In the Matter of Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc., Waimana Enterprises, Inc., Albert S.N. © 1998 - 2020 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Re: In the Matter of Sandwich Isles Communications, Inc., Waimana Enterprises, Inc., Albert S.N. Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care, © Hawaii Free Press - All Rights Reserved. BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. by Foodland.
The Commission found Sandwich Isles apparently liable for the following violations: (1) filing inaccurate data in its annual cost studies; (2) falsely certifying the accuracy of the data contained within the cost studies; (3) misclassifying costs relating to its cable and wire facilities; (4) overstating the costs related to the lease of abandoned water mains; and (5) failing to keep its accounts, records, and memoranda as prescribed by the Commission’s rules. BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. It’s well-deserved in this case, given the repeated, willful violations involved, and it serves to reaffirm the Commission’s commitment to stamping out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Universal Service Fund. Federal Communications Commission FCC 17-85 3 boundary waiver providing Sandwich Isles the status … Authorities arrested 20-year-old Ethan Sandomire at his Waialae Iki home in March.
Chairman Pai issuing a separate statement. This is one of the largest forfeitures the Commission has ever imposed, period—let alone on a participant in the Commission’s high-cost universal service program. How BBB Processes Complaints and Reviews.
Over the course of nearly 15 years, Sandwich Isles Communications received millions of dollars through the Commission’s Universal Service Fund. WASHINGTON, September 30, 2020—The Federal Communications Commission today fined Sandwich Isles Communications, Waimana Enterprises, and Albert S.N.
The fine reinforces the Commission’s commitment to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the Universal Service Fund.
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