Hoku to delist stock from Nasdaq

Honolulu-based Hoku Corp. will voluntarily terminate its listing on the Nasdaq Global Market on or around Monday, the company said Friday.

Financially strapped Hoku, which in May halted construction of a polysilicon plant it was building in Idaho, previously announced its noncompliance with Nasdaq’s continuing listing requirements because of its inability to maintain a $1 minimum bid price, among other reasons. Nasdaq halted the trading of Hoku’s stock July 5. It last traded July 3, when it closed at 10 cents.

Hoku said it will file a form with the Securities and Exchange Commission to facilitate the delisting.

Verizon Wireless to expand state 4G network

Verizon Wireless said it will expand its 4G Long Term Evolution network in Hawaii in the coming weeks.

The expanded 4G LTE network will enable customers in more parts of Hawaii island, Maui and Oahu to use their wireless devices to surf the Web and stream music and video using the high-speed service, according to Verizon.

The service will be expanded on Hawaii island to include Glenwood, Papaikou, Pepeekeo, Volcano and Waimea. On Oahu new service areas include Iwilei, Kapahulu, Kualoa Point, Mapunapuna, Sand Island and Waipahu. On Maui the service will be expanded to Haiku Town and Paia. The service will be available at Hoolehua Airport on Molokai and in Lanai City and Manele Bay Resort on Lanai.

NLRB dismisses charges against Local 5

The National Labor Relations Board has dismissed charges by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation claiming that Unite Here Local 5 had forced Hawaii-based workers to pay dues for "nonrepresentational" union activities.

Grant Suzuki, one of the workers who participated in the case, had received free support from the nonprofit foundation. Suzuki discovered in December that his union dues had paid for a variety of activities outside of the scope of workplace negotiation, according to comments made in April to the Star-Advertiser by Will Collins, deputy director of communications for the foundation.

But the NLRB ruled Wednesday that there was "no evidence that the individuals named in the charges (filed in April, May and June) were charged for any (nonchargeable) activities."

Suzuki, who has worked at Hilton Hawaiian Village for 21 years and now serves as a maintenance supervisor, could not be reached for immediate comment. Collins could not be immediately reached either.

JPMorgan traders may have concealed losses

NEW YORK » JPMorgan Chase said Friday that its traders may have tried to conceal the losses from a soured bet that has embarrassed the bank and cost it almost $6 billion — far more than its CEO first suggested.

The bank said an internal investigation had uncovered evidence that led executives to "question the integrity" of the values, or marks, that traders assigned to their trades.

JPMorgan also said that it planned to revoke two years’ worth of pay from some of the senior managers involved in the bad bet, and that it had closed the division of the bank responsible for the mistake.

"This has shaken our company to the core," CEO Jamie Dimon said.

The bank said the loss, which Dimon estimated at $2 billion when he disclosed it in May, had grown to $5.8 billion, and could grow larger than $7 billion if financial markets deteriorate severely.

New York Fed told of rate manipulation

WASHINGTON » The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released documents Friday that show it learned five years ago of big banks understating their borrowing costs to manipulate a key interest rate. The documents also show Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was then president of the New York Fed, urged the Bank of England to make the rate-setting process more transparent.

A congressional panel requested the documents and is investigating manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR, which affects the interest paid on loans.

Prosecutor: CEO carried out $200M fraud

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa » The chief executive of an Iowa-based brokerage firm admitted in a tell-all suicide note that he carried out an elaborate fraud scheme in which he embezzled at least $100 million from customers over two decades, federal investigators said Friday.

FBI agents arrested Peregrine Financial Group Inc. CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr. at a local hospital Friday, and he appeared in federal court later in the day on charges of lying to federal regulators. Court documents detail a wide-ranging fraud scheme in which Wasendorf apparently fooled colleagues, customers and regulators by creating fraudulent financial records. Those documents detailed a note found in Wasendorf’s car Monday, when authorities found him unresponsive in the vehicle outside the company’s headquarters in Cedar Falls.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan said during the court hearing Friday that Wasendorf could face a wide range of additional criminal charges and decades in prison for what the prosecutor called a $200 million scheme in which Wasendorf embezzled customer funds for 20 years.

ON THE MOVE

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced the following:

» Nick LaCarra rejoins the firm’s Kahala office as a previews property specialist, specializing in all areas of Oahu.

» Kathleen Takemoto rejoins the King Street office as a Realtor associate.

» Ronald S. Moore has joined the firm’s Leeward office as a Realtor associate.

» Ken Treichler has joined the firm’s King Street office as a previews property specialist, specializing in Honolulu condominiums.

» U’i Victorino has joined the firm’s Leeward office as a Realtor associate.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: