HONOLULU, March 10 (UPI) -- A key financial supporter in the reorganization of Hawaiian Airlines has been arrested for bribery, affecting an outside group's plan for the carrier.
One of the principals in the outside group's reorganization plan said he plans to withdraw his proposal because of the arrest of St. Louis businessman Paul Boghosian, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported Thursday.
Hawaiian Airlines pilot Robert Konop said the arrest on the eve of the airline's confirmation hearing necessitates pulling the only competing proposal to a company-backed plan for Hawaiian, the newspaper said. All three attorneys connected with the outside group's plan also have withdrawn.
U.S. Attorney David Kelly in New York said Boghosian, president of the Barron Group Ltd., had allegedly agreed to pay a $500,000 bribe to an FBI agent, who was posing as a hedge fund manager, in return for a loan of approximately $2.5 million.
The latest events likely will help the company-backed plan which is supported by Hawaiian Airlines trustee Joshua Gotbaum, its unsecured creditors' committee and the investor group RC Aviation LLC, the newspaper said.
