Certified Hawaii, police investigating theft
Certified Hawaii, which manages more than 500 local condominiums and townhomes, is working with the Honolulu Police Department on an ongoing theft investigation of its former CEO, Toni Floerke. Certified’s parent company, Dallas-based Associa, said in March that it fired Floerke after she allegedly stole as much as $100,000 from the owners association at three Oahu townhomes.
Floerke, a licensed real estate broker who has worked for Certified for 19 years, "misappropriated the funds by taking them from boards and Certified Hawaii and directly placed them elsewhere," Associa told the Star-Advertiser in March.
Floerke, who couldn’t be reached for comment, was the firm’s principal broker and a notary for 16 years and became Certified’s CEO in November 2007.
The company said it will repay money stolen from Kulana Knolls, Kekuilani and Aeloa Terrace once independent audits confirming total losses are complete.
"Once this is complete, Associa will waste no time in cutting checks directly to those associations," said Carol Piering, Associa’s senior vice president. "If another association is identified, we would, of course, be prudent in reimbursing it as well."
The state would file criminal charges based on the outcome of the investigation, she added.
"We’ve completed necessary process improvements to ensure a like incident never occurs again," Piering said.
Allegiant Air offering $99 one-way fares
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, which entered the Hawaii market in late June with flights from Las Vegas and Fresno, Calif., is offering one-way fares to the nine Western cities it plans to serve from Honolulu and Maui.
Tickets must be purchased by Wednesday and are good for travel through April 15. Some of the routes have not yet begun service.
Hawaiian Air to waive fees due to hurricane
Hawaiian Airlines said Friday it will waive reservation change fees and differences in fares for customers who need to change their travel plans because of Hurricane Sandy.
Effective immediately, customers who are ticketed on Hawaiian through Wednesday for travel between the East Coast (including travel connecting in the East Coast) and Hawaii will be permitted to change their reservations without charge to flights through Nov. 4, provided that the changes are made no later than Nov. 1.
All change fees and applicable difference in fares will be waived provided that changes are made in the same class of service (for example, coach to coach or first to first), based on seat availability. Changes must be made by Hawaiian Airlines personnel in the reservations department or at the airport. Normal refund rules will apply.
Customers needing assistance should call Hawaiian’s reservations department at 1-800-367-5320.
Fantastic Sams now open at Kahala Mall
The 21st Hawaii location of Fantastic Sams Hair Salons is now open at Kahala Mall between LBD (Little Black Dress) and Pictures Plus. Its services include haircuts starting at $14.95 for kids 12 and under, coloring services including highlighting, permanents and facial waxing.
The Hawaii salons serve about 8,000 customers a week. The Kahala Mall store will mark its grand opening Nov. 17.
Nobu Lanai restaurant formally announced
Globally renowned chef and restaurateur Nobuyuki Matsuhisa will expand his eponymous restaurant chain to Lanai, as first reported Wednesday in the Star-Advertiser. The resort announced additional details Friday.
The upscale Japanese restaurant will open in the Four Seasons Resort Lana‘i at Manele Bay in mid-December.
"Nobu Lanai will elevate the culinary scene on Lanai and offer guests yet another exceptional experience while capturing the essence of the authentic, private island," said Tom Roelens, resort general manager, in a statement.
Nobu Lanai will be on the lower lobby level of the hotel and will offer sweeping panoramic views.
UH endowment created in honor of Botticelli
A new University of Hawaii endowment has been created in honor of Max Botticelli, former CEO of University Health Alliance, also known as UHA.
More than 400 friends and colleagues have joined Botticelli’s family and the health insurer in funding the endowment at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine. Botticelli died March 22 at age 80. The new endowment will provide the medical school with resources to further develop its problem-based learning curriculum and support ongoing training and development of teachers.
Toyota’s global sales easily outpace GM’s
DETROIT » Toyota has widened its global sales lead over General Motors after bouncing back from a series of natural disasters. The company said Friday it sold 7.4 million vehicles globally in the first nine months of this year — 450,000 more than General Motors.
While Toyota’s sales rose 28 percent in that period, GM’s rose 2.5 percent, to 6.95 million cars and light-duty trucks.
Japan OKs new stimulus for ailing economy
TOKYO » Japan’s Cabinet approved a $5.3 billion economic stimulus package Friday, moving to fend off recession as the recovery in the world’s third-biggest economy falters.
The emergency spending package, which is double the size originally expected, is also meant to help make up for lost momentum from reconstruction in the region devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
But officials said the boost to the economy would be modest, in the range of 0.1 percent of gross domestic product.
The new stimulus will be paid for from government reserves. The country faces a "fiscal cliff" of some $479 billion.
ON THE MOVE
Central Pacific Bank has appointed Butch Paeste to HomeLoan consultant. He has more than 20 years of mortgage loan experience, including serving as a loan officer for Guilt Mortgage Co.
The law firm of Imanaka Asato has appointed Paula W. Chong as senior counsel in the real estate and finance practice of the firm. She has represented clients in a wide range of real estate matters, including condo-hotel conversions, golf course and hotel properties, and commercial leasing and property management.
