”’Editor’s note: American Savings Bank issued the following statement after Hawaii Reporter broke a story on Saturday about the FBI raid on its corporate security headquarters, which is tied to two civil lawsuits filed in state court by a former security director and a former 91-year-old customer. On Wednesday, The Honolulu Advertiser published a follow up story on the FBI investigation; and after several media requests, the bank finally issued a statement. See the related story here: “FBI Raids American Savings Bank Corporate Headquarters””’
American Savings Bank has been the target of a number of outrageous allegations in two separate but apparently coordinated lawsuits filed on Aug. 2. In one of the situations, lawyers for the plaintiff demanded money and threatened us with unwanted media attention.
One claim was made regarding an employee the bank terminated promptly, following our own internal investigation. The other claim came from a disgruntled former employee who made a number of accusations against American Savings Bank and me personally. The allegations in both these suits are untrue.
One in particular needs to be addressed in the most emphatic terms. This bank did not in any way, shape or form cover up anything. We proactively file all reports required by regulatory authorities. We have also never stopped anyone from filing a required report to a government agency. In our business, integrity is our foundation and we would not have been able to operate in Hawaii for more than 80 years without it.
We work in one of the most highly regulated industries and take the responsibility of protecting our customers very seriously. That is why we work hard to protect our customers, and use the most advanced electronic financial monitoring systems.
I have directed our attorneys to take every appropriate legal step to respond to these unfounded allegations despite the apparent orchestrated and unfair attempts by the plaintiffs to sow fear and uncertainty among our customers and stakeholders. At the end of the day, I expect the bank to be fully exonerated.