As many as six more University of Hawaii officials in different departments could find their roles in the botched Stevie Wonder fundraising concert under review following the suspensions of UH’s athletic director and Stan Sheriff arena manager this week.
An external investigation commissioned by UH likely will extend beyond the athletic department and include the finance office and, possibly, the general counsel’s office, said people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
The external UH investigation likely will look into who authorized a $200,000 wire transfer to a Florida bank and who approved contracts and agreements for the ill-fated concert, UH sources said.
Meanwhile, the FBI has begun a criminal investigation and has told UH officials it can find no trace of the $200,000 the university wired to a Florida bank account said to be involved in the bogus fundraising concert for UH athletics planned for Aug. 18 at the Stan Sheriff Center, UH sources told the Star-Advertiser.
FBI Special Agent Tom Simon acknowledged that the FBI has been contacted by UH officials, but said he could not comment further.
"I can confirm that the referral has been made to the FBI Honolulu office by the University of Hawaii," Simon said. "But DOJ (Department of Justice) policies prohibit me from confirming or denying the existence of an FBI investigation unless or until charges are filed."
The FBI investigated a 2002 bogus concert promotion in which singer Van Morrison was billed to perform at a Honolulu Marathon concert and luau at the Waikiki Shell.
Following the FBI investigation, a federal grand jury indicted New York-based entertainment promotor Kenneth Vangel for allegedly defrauding the Honolulu Marathon Association of $47,552 for falsely promising that Morrison would perform.
Vangel was sentenced in federal court to five years’ probation and ordered to pay restitution to the Honolulu Marathon Association.
UH officials contacted the Honolulu FBI office because "we suspected early on we might be victims of interstate fraud," UH-Manoa’s new chancellor, Tom Apple, told the Star-Advertiser on Thursday.
Apple said he does not expect any other disciplinary actions against UH officials who may have been involved in the concert preparations until the completion of a investigation by "an external investigator" working separately from the FBI.
Apple said the investigation will look into whether UH procedures and policies were followed "and who did what."
Until the external probe is complete, Apple said it would "be irresponsible for me to speculate" on whether other UH officials will face disciplinary action.
"I don’t know if it will take two days or two weeks," Apple said. "We want it to happen quickly. We don’t want this dragging on."
He declined to identify who will conduct the investigation because "I don’t know if the ink is dry on the contract."
The probe will be conducted by "someone we’ve used before," Apple said.
Local promoter Bob Peyton told the Star-Advertiser that he wired $50,000 of his money for the Wonder concert to an account at an Orlando, Fla., bank belonging to Epic Talent Inc., which has a Miami address. Peyton said UH officials wired $200,000 to the same account.
Apple has said the $200,000 came from UH funds, possibly athletic department revolving funds. The money was wired by the school’s finance office, according to UH.
UH President M.R.C. Greenwood told reporters Wednesday that she had no knowledge of the concert until she was contacted by Wonder’s agent Monday. Donovan announced the cancellation of the concert Tuesday.
UH officials placed Donovan and Stan Sheriff Center manager Rich Sheriff on indefinite paid leave Wednesday pending an investigation.
Peyton, whose BPE Productions was the promoter of the ill-fated concert, said a deal was in place to hold the show before it was killed by Wonder’s representatives at Creative Artists Agency.
Peyton said he has known some CAA people for years, and, "I asked UH not to cancel the show based upon CAA objections and threats."
"CAA hates it when deals go around them," Peyton wrote in an email to the Star-Advertiser. "The first thing CAA said to me was that Stevie doesn’t play for as cheap ($750,000 plus hotel and transportation) as I got him."
CAA has declined comment.
Peyton said he included Greenwood in an email to CAA on Monday, stating there was a contract with Epic Talent for Wonder’s performance.
In the email, Peyton pleaded, "Please, let’s reason this out and stop the frantic alarm." Additionally, he proposed that "we can work it out amicably."
A CAA spokeswoman declined to comment when asked whether other entities sometimes book Wonder without CAA — or if the star is exclusive to the agency and for how long.
"The show is on sale and will sell out," Peyton wrote to CAA and UH. "There is common ground in all this. The last thing I want to do is hurt the reputation of the University of Hawaii or Stevie."
BPE Production’s purported partner in the deal, Epic Talent, has not responded to emails asking for comment or a copy of an agreement.
"To my knowledge my man in Florida (has) a deal," Peyton said.
Peyton wrote to the Star-Advertiser that on Tuesday, "I was told by their (UH’s) legal staff they would not cancel the show. That was about 3 p.m. At 5 p.m. I heard the news that they had had a press conference … where they canceled."
