How Honolulu’s Ex-City Attorney Went From Obscurity To A Federal Indictment … Donna Leong’s lawyer has argued her client executed a legal retirement agreement. Federal prosecutors say it was criminal.
Before Donna Leong became the City and County of Honolulu’s top attorney in 2013, she was the chief legal officer for the Outrigger hotel chain.
And in the private sector, it isn’t unusual for a company to part ways with an employee and pay them off to make a problem disappear quickly, according to David Carey, Outrigger’s former CEO and president.
“In the corporate world, you settle a contentious HR issue early, and you don’t have to terminate, you don’t have to get into litigation, and the organization can move on,” Carey said.
Now Leong is facing a federal conspiracy charge for allegedly doing just that – striking a deal with the police chief at the time, Louis Kealoha, and paying $250,000 in public funds to cut him loose as he faced a corruption probe.
