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MEMORANDUM in Opposition by USA as to Martin Kao re 38 MOTION to… — PPP Attempt Conspiracy Legal Filings (Dkt. 47)
No. 1:21-cr-00061-LEK · Doc. 47 · Docket on CourtListener
Summary
The government's opposition to Martin Kao's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release 7p2 (ECF No. 38) in United States of America v. Martin Kao, Cr. No. 21-00061 JAO, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, filed May 26, 2021 as Document 47. The government argues that the defendant has the means and motive to flee the United States. It contrasts assets he disclosed to Pretrial Services, which it totals at $5,965,000, with a Personal Financial Statement signed September 14, 2020 that reported a total net worth of $70,036,764. The memorandum states that he has between $5.9 million and $53.2 million in assets and ties to Taiwan, which it says has no extradition treaty with the United States, and asks that the motion be denied. It is signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig S. Nolan.
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Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 47 Filed 05/26/21 Page 1 of 5 PageID.186
JUDITH A. PHILPS
Acting 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. ) CONDITIONS OF RELEASE 7p2;
) CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
MARTIN KAO, )
)
Defendant. )
______________________________ )
GOVERNMENT’S OPPOSITION TO
MOTION TO MODIFY CONDITIONS OF RELEASE 7p2
The United States hereby opposes defendant’s Motion to Modify Conditions
of Release 7p2 (ECF No. 38). The government had planned to respond only
through oral argument, but is filing this short written memorandum to respond to
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 47 Filed 05/26/21 Page 2 of 5 PageID.187
factual assertions by defendant contained in the Pretrial Services Office (“PTS”)
report received by the undersigned through email at 8:30 am today (May 26, 2001).
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. He is a naturalized citizen who was born in Taiwan and either
owns land in Taiwan or has proceeds of the sale of that land waiting for him in
Taiwan. According to the PTS report, defendant disclosed that last month he
closed on the sale of land in Taiwan resulting in approximately $800,000 in
proceeds that awaits him in Taiwan. He asserts also that he has $560,000 (rather
than the $925,000 shown in his bank statements) in cash, and real properties with a
collective value of $11,955,000 subject to mortgages with a collective total of
$7,350,000 for total equity of $4,605,000. Thus, based on defendant’s disclosures
to PTS, defendant has $5,965,000 in assets available to him.
That number is, however, dwarfed by the much greater wealth defendant
disclosed to a local bank 16 days prior to his arrest in September 2020. In the
Personal Financial Statement signed by defendant on September 14, 2020,
defendant represented to that bank that he had a total net worth of $70,036,764.
See Ex. 1 at 1. Among those assets were:
//
//
2
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 47 Filed 05/26/21 Page 3 of 5 PageID.188
• $16,868,508 in stocks and bonds (subject to an $800,000 margin loan)
that appear nowhere in the most recent PTS report and appear as only
$2,500,000 in the October 1, 2020 PTS report; and
• $45,730,000 in real estate (including a representation that the land in
Taiwan was worth $24,630,000) with loan balances of $7,100,000 for
total collective equity of $38,630,000.
See id. at 1, 3.
Setting aside the $13,838,256 in investment in business and the $1,000,000
in automobiles disclosed to the bank, as well as the $2,000,000 seized by the
government from defendant’s brokerage account in September 2020, defendant has
$53,198,508 in assets available to him based on the wealth he reported to the bank.
Additionally, defendant represented to the bank that he owned outright a residence
in Japan worth $3,900,000, which he did not disclose to PTS.
In sum, defendant has either violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001 by providing false
and incomplete material information to this Court through PTS, or defendant has
committed additional bank fraud not yet charged against a bank that provided his
company with, among other things, a line of credit personally guaranteed by
defendant, see id. at 1, or he has done both. In any event, defendant has between
$5.9 million and $53.2 million in assets—including significant assets in one or two
3
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 47 Filed 05/26/21 Page 4 of 5 PageID.189
foreign countries—available to him to flee prosecution in the United States and to
support a more than comfortable lifestyle overseas.
Defendant first came before the Court after being charged with bank fraud
and money laundering by Complaint. He now stands indicted for wire fraud and
money laundering, and faces—if convicted—a significant imprisonment range
under the advisory Sentencing Guidelines, as well as hefty fines, restitution, and
forfeiture. He has ties to two foreign countries, one of which (Taiwan) does not
have an extradition treaty with the United States. Defendant’s own written
statements to a local bank are incompatible with his statements to PTS. Under
either set of numbers, he has the means and motive to flee prosecution even
without a passport. The proposed modification of conditions makes it easier to
flee. Consequently, defendant’s motion should be denied.
DATED: May 26, 2021, at Honolulu, Hawaii.
Respectfully submitted,
JUDITH A. PHILPS
Acting United States Attorney
District of Hawaii
By /s/ Craig S. Nolan
CRAIG S. NOLAN
Assistant U.S. Attorney
4
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEK Document 47 Filed 05/26/21 Page 5 of 5 PageID.190
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:
MICHAEL JAY GREEN (michael@michaeljaygreen.com)
VICTOR J. BAKKE (vbakke@bakkelawfirm.com)
Attorneys for Defendant
MARTIN KAO
DATED: May 26, 2021, at Honolulu, Hawaii.
/s/ Craig S. Nolan
CRAIG S. NOLAN
Assistant U.S. Attorney
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