Court filing
RESPONSE in Opposition by USA as to Martin Kao re 111 MOTION to… — PPP Attempt Conspiracy Legal Filings (Dkt. 118)
No. 1:21-cr-00061-LEK · Doc. 118 · Docket on CourtListener
Summary
The government's opposition to Martin Kao's Motion to Modify Condition of Release (ECF No. 111) in United States v. Martin Kao, No. 1:21-cr-00061-LEK, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, filed September 5, 2023 as Doc. 118. The United States argues that the defendant remains a serious risk of flight, best mitigated by the Condition 7p5 requirement that he wear a GPS unit for 24-hour monitoring. Citing a February 18, 2022 Pretrial Services report, it states that the defendant reported $800,000 in land-sale proceeds in Taiwan and valued remaining land there at $200,000 to $300,000. It also cites his guilty plea to wire fraud and money laundering counts, a guideline range of 87 to 108 months in the PSR filed July 10, 2023, and a bank fraud trial set for March 25, 2024. The four-page filing is signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig S. Nolan.
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Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 118 Filed 09/05/23 Page 1 of 4 PageID.976
CLARE E. CONNORS #7936
United States Attorney
District of Hawaii
CRAIG S. NOLAN
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Room 6-100, PJKK Federal Building
300 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
Telephone: (808) 541-2850
Facsimile: (808) 541-2958
Email: Craig.Nolan@usdoj.gov
Attorneys for Plaintiff
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) CR. NO. 21-00061 JAO
)
Plaintiff, ) GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO
) MOTION TO MODIFY
vs. ) CONDITION OF RELEASE;
) CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
MARTIN KAO, )
)
Defendant. )
______________________________ )
GOVERNMENT’S OPPOSITION TO
MOTION TO MODIFY CONDITION OF RELEASE
The United States hereby opposes defendant’s Motion to Modify Condition
of Release (ECF No. 111). Defendant continues to represent a serious risk of
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 118 Filed 09/05/23 Page 2 of 4 PageID.977
flight, which is best mitigated by the current requirement in Condition 7p5 that he
wear a GPS unit for 24-hour monitoring.
As articulated to the Court at the detention hearing in October 2020, the
government’s primary concern is that defendant has the means and motive to flee
the United States. According to a February 18, 2022 Pretrial Services report (at
page 5), defendant reported that he owns farmland in his birth country of Taiwan—
he is a naturalized Untied States citizen—and sold a portion of that land in April
2021, resulting in proceeds of $800,000 that await him in Taiwan. He valued the
remainder of the land in Taiwan at $200,000 to $300,000. Although the
government is aware that defendant has expended significant sums on legal fees in
this matter and in state civil litigation and arbitration proceedings related to his
former business, Martin Defense Group, the government remains concerned that
defendant has not fully disclosed the assets available to him, including assets in the
United States and abroad in the names of his spouse, parents, and several
foundations he or his spouse formed. That suspicion is heightened by defendant’s
refusal to provide, in response to a request by the United States Probation Office, a
standard Net Worth Statement and Monthly Cash Flow Statement, and copies of
his federal income tax returns for the last three calendar years, which suggests that
defendant is concealing his assets from the Court and the government.
2
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 118 Filed 09/05/23 Page 3 of 4 PageID.978
In addition to apparently having the means to flee and approximately
$800,000 waiting for him in Taiwan, defendant has a strong motive to flee given
that he pled guilty to all wire fraud and money laundering counts in the Indictment
and is facing a guideline sentence of 87 to 108 months according to the PSR filed
in this matter on July 10, 2023. Further, defendant is pending sentencing in the
District of Columbia for criminal campaign contribution violations, and defendant
is pending trial in this District on a bank fraud charge arising out of a $3 million
loan defendant used to purchase a $4.5 million house in Kahala in 2020. Trial in
that matter is scheduled for March 25, 2024.
Defendant’s proposed modification of his conditions of release would make
flight easier at a time when defendant’s motive to flee has increased.
Consequently, defendant’s motion should be denied.
DATED: September 5, 2023, at Honolulu, Hawaii.
Respectfully submitted,
CLARE E. CONNORS
United States Attorney
District of Hawaii
By /s/ Craig S. Nolan
CRAIG S. NOLAN
Assistant U.S. Attorney
3
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 118 Filed 09/05/23 Page 4 of 4 PageID.979
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the attached was duly served
upon the following person as set forth below:
Served Electronically by CM/ECF and Email:
VICTOR J. BAKKE (vbakke@bakkelawfirm.com)
Attorney for Defendant MARTIN KAO
DATED: September 5, 2023, at Honolulu, Hawaii.
/s/ Craig S. Nolan
CRAIG S. NOLAN
Assistant U.S. Attorney
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