Deal in works for businessman to pay back casinos

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 12:05 p.m.

In a brief hearing today in state court, attorneys for Sukamto indicated they were working on a plan to repay the $8 million in checks written to cover gambling debts at four Las Vegas casinos.

A judge set another court date of Dec. 10 to check on progress in the case.

"Nothing's concrete at this point but we're talking and we're close," said Deputy District Attorney Dan Ahlstrom. "Under the laws of the state he can get deferred prosecution so he can make some sort of repayment and the case will eventually be dismissed."

Sukamto, 39, was removed as chairman of the board of the Bank of Honolulu following his arrest last month in Las Vegas, where he was charged with passing $8 million in insufficient checks to cover gambling debts at two casinos.

He filed last week for bankruptcy protection in Honolulu, listing $161 million in bank loan debts and $27 million in gambling debts.

Sukamto, a former Hawaii resident who now lives in Singapore, listed assets of between $10 million and $50 million in the Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

According to the bankruptcy filing, +Sukamto+ owes bank loans of $111 million in Singapore, $37 million in Indonesia, $10.5 million in Hong Kong and $3 million in Bangkok.

Sukamto also owes a total of $18 million to four Las Vegas casinos - the Rio Hotel, Ceasars Palace, the Mirage Hotel and the Las Vegas Hilton - as well as $9.6 million to casinos in London, Paris and Melbourne, Australia, the filing said.

Sukamto, who did not attend Tuesday's hearing, is free on $200,000 bail after pleading innocent to the Las Vegas charges. He is accused of passing five insufficient funds checks totaling $6 million at the Rio hotel-casino on Jan. 29, 1998, and two totaling $2 million at Caesars Palace on June 30 and July 31, 1997.