Back in 2005, when Waikoloa Land Co. and Waikoloa Cattle were working out a deal to sell off most of the undeveloped land they held, one of the key parties in the negotiations was Michael Miroyan. When the sellers learned of the Miroyan\u2019s criminal history, they did not want to transfer the property to him.<\/p>\n
As a result, Miroyan worked out a deal with Stefan Martirosian, the principal of the company, Waikoloa Mauka, that did end up purchasing the land, calling for Miroyan to hold a 20 percent interest in the company that held title to the land. Then Martirosian apparently tried to stiff Miroyan, leading to a lawsuit. Eventually, they worked out a deal that called for Miroyan to receive three lots at the intersection of Waikoloa Road and Paniolo Drive, just outside of Waikoloa Village.<\/p>\n
In talks with the county, Martirosian had committed that land for development of affordable housing and a community park. But after Miroyan acquired it, he had other plans, and, as reported elsewhere in this issue, the affordable housing component of the Waikoloa Highlands development moved elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Miroyan proceeded to take out nearly $1.3 million in loans using the land, held by his company Hawaiian Riverbend, as security.<\/p>\n
In 2014, Miroyan\u2019s creditors initiated foreclosure proceedings, leading him to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2016. His reorganization plan called for the sale of his three lots, with the proceeds \u2013 estimated by Miroyan at around $7 million \u2013 used to satisfy his creditors.<\/p>\n
The creditors disputed Miroyan\u2019s estimate of the value of the property and sought to have the bankruptcy judge order a foreclosure sale. In an early filing in the case, in August 2016, the Kai Trust (Kenneth K. Tai and Tae K. Tai, Trustees of the Kai Family 1998 Trust), went so far as to assert that Miroyan had no equity in the property at all and was using cash obtained after the petition was filed for gambling: \u201cDebtor Hawaiian Riverbend \u2026 has not shown any credible evidence to rebut the Kai Trust\u2019s prima facie evidence that there is no equity in the property. Debtor also has no ability to reorganize given the lack of equity in the property. In fact, Debtor\u2019s sole member Michael Miroyan has recently used the post-petition cash assets for personal use, such as by withdrawing large sums of cash without a proper accounting, and going on gambling sprees at a casino in San Jose.\u201d Documents filed with the court by Miroyan himself showed he spent $4,164.90, withdrawn from Hawaiian Riverbend\u2019s bank account, at Casino M8trix in San Jose.<\/p>\n
In reply, Miroyan claimed that the fact that Hawaiian Riverbend\u2019s account had any money at all was a result of his putting his personal funds into it in expectation of having to pay a civil engineer and travel to Hawai`i. \u201cIn hindsight,\u201d he wrote, \u201cI probably should have withheld contributing capital until they [sic] were absolutely necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
As to the charge he used funds to gamble, Miroyan denied that. \u201cBetween July 15-18, 2016, I withdrew approximately $4,667.95 funds from the [Hawaiian Riverbend] account at a Casino M8trix location. I did not use the funds for gambling as alleged. I believed that I had made excess contributions for the month of July 2016 and was entitled to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kai Trust urged the court to allow an \u201cefficient foreclosure sale [to] occur as soon as possible and to avoid relitigating the same issues that were fully briefed and ready to be decided by Judge [Ronald] Ibarra [of the 3rd<\/sup> Circuit] prior to the filing of this Chapter 11 petition.\u201d<\/p>\n The assessed value of the property was only $472,000, the trust continued. \u201cMiroyan does not specifically set forth any value ascribed to the property, nor does [his declaration] contain any support or basis for the argument that the property is worth $6.5 million. It is pure, unsupported conjecture.\u201d<\/p>\n By the start of 2018, the two secured creditors were growing impatient, as was the court, since Miroyan had not identified any buyers for the property.<\/p>\n In his order dismissing the bankruptcy case on February 2, Judge Robert J. Faris denied Miroyan\u2019s request for a hearing, noting that the court had given Miroyan \u201cand all other parties in interest an opportunity to state their positions in writing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Miroyan has availed himself of that opportunity by filing extensive papers, all of which I have carefully reviewed. A hearing is not necessary,\u201d Faris wrote, then added:<\/p>\n \u201cFurther, Mr. Miroyan sent an email to counsel for the Kai creditors prior to the status conference that was abusive, profane, and threatening. While the email contains no explicit threats of violence, its tone and content are beyond inappropriate. Mr. Miroyan has forfeited whatever right he might have had to a hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n That \u201cabusive, profane, and threatening\u201d email was sent to attorney Matthew Shannon on December 11, 2017. Referring to a status conference, Miroyan asks Shannon \u201cif you are going to make the date in the courtroom, because I\u2019m gonna be in that courtroom and I\u2019m gonna make sure that you get what you get for your lying in wait and murder\u2026 [ellipsis in original] and the minute you get in front of that judge, I\u2019m not payin\u2019 your greedy clients a penny because they don\u2019t deserve shit and you don\u2019t either. You deserve what I\u2019m going to give you which is the lawsuit of your punc [sic] ass life, you coward bitch. I don\u2019t know why Chucky boy gave a fucking piece of shit like you a pass \u2026 [ellipsis in original] but I\u2019m not giving you no pass, coward fucking bitch. I want to be in that courtroom with you and what are you gonna do if you\u2019re not hiding in the weeds, you punk ass motherfucker, what are you gonna do when you\u2019re exposed? You\u2019re going to pay with your chickenshit reputation and you are going to be deposed by me you piece of shit.\u201d (Chucky Boy is an apparent reference to Chuck C. Choi, the attorney who represented Hawaiian Riverbend at one point.)<\/p>\n The Kai Trust has revived its foreclosure lawsuit in 3rd<\/sup> Circuit Court. The other creditor, Cory TerEick, has not reactivated his lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u2018A Poorer Man By Far \u2026\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n As his bankruptcy court hearings were ongoing, and even after his reorganization petition was dismissed, Miroyan was still trying to work out a deal with the county that would allow him to develop one of his three lots, at the corner of Paniolo Drive and Wailoloa Road, zoned CV (commercial-village).<\/p>\n In pleadings by email, he variously proposed a car wash, gas station, and a self-storage business, but was told that none of these was in conformity with the zoning.<\/p>\n His emails to the Planning Department require more than a ream of paper to print out. As with the bankruptcy court filings, the papers Miroyan has filed with the county are extensive, to say the least, and often rambling.<\/p>\n Last October, for example, Miroyan claimed to have been double-crossed by his former partners and planning consultant Sidney Fuke. \u201cWhat he [Fuke] and Rudo [the affordable housing officer] are proposing to do across the street \u2026 damages me and changes everything and leaves me a poorer man by far, shouldering by myself financial responsibilities that were meant and signed in an agreement against the two properties to be shared equally by HR [Hawaiian Riverbend] and Waikoloa Mauka.\u201d<\/p>\n Miroyan and Waikoloa Mauka had agreed to share the costs of intersection improvements, and Miroyan also implies elsewhere that he was the one who identified the developer that ultimately purchased the affordable housing lot. (As an aside, Miroyan seems to have known far more about the affordable housing agreement than the Planning Department staff to whom his tirades were addressed.)<\/p>\n In the meantime, taxes have been accruing on the three parcels still held by Hawaiian Riverbend. As of last month, the total due came to $65,550.67.<\/p>\n — Patricia Tummons<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Back in 2005, when Waikoloa Land Co. and Waikoloa Cattle were working out a deal to sell off most of the undeveloped land they held, one of the key parties in the negotiations was Michael Miroyan. 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