Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A Hilo jury on Friday awarded Big Island Toyota more than $1.4 million after finding that one of its former executives stole from the company and left its books in shambles.
The jury found that Victor D. Trevino Jr. took $20,000 from the auto dealer and parent company David S. De Luz Sr. Enterprises, and awarded the dealership and De Luz $448,000 as a result of Trevino’s breach of fiduciary duty, $193,250 for breach of employment contract, $112,425 for negligence and $626,942 in punitive damages.
Circuit Judge Glenn Hara presided over the civil trial, which lasted more than five weeks. Jury deliberations began on Monday.
Honolulu attorney Paul Saito, the main counsel for the De Luz family, said that although some of the family members wanted “$9 or 10 million,” the family is happy and that “it was never about the money.”
“If we actually collect anything from Victor Trevino, the money will be donated to charity,” Saito said.
Saito said that Trevino converted for his own use company money, real estate and other property, including art worth “a million-and-a-half to $2 million.”
“What the jury came back with was really in line with what we found,” Saito said. “It was kind of eerie.”
Trevino’s attorney, Kris LaGuire, said he and his client are “very disappointed” and called the award “just a fraction of what the De Luz family is seeking.”
“We believe that the evidence did not support their findings, and we will be filing an appeal,” he said. “There are substantial legal grounds for the appeals court to reverse this decision, and we fully expect that the verdict will be vacated.” LaGuire declined to answer further questions.
The suit, which was filed in November 2006, sought repayment of about $335,000, in addition to unspecified punitive and other damages.
Among the allegations were that Trevino failed to file the company’s 2005 corporate tax return on time and left the company’s financial records in ruin as the company was undergoing an audit of its 2003 taxes.
The suit further stated that Trevino cut himself an unauthorized bonus check for $222,895.25 in April 2006, and that he kept two company laptop computers and took two tower computers from the company after resigning in October that year.
Trevino filed a countersuit against Big Island Toyota, which was dismissed, that claimed the De Luz lawsuit was a preemptive strike fired against an honest man who resigned from a dishonest company in disgust.
It was revealed in court that the counterclaim was “purchased” by De Luz for $60,000 in a bankruptcy case filed by Trevino in San Antonio, Texas in 2009.
In his bankruptcy filings, Trevino claimed assets and debts of between $1 million and $10 million. The largest asset listed was a home and land at 31-300 Old Mamalahoa Highway in Ninole, worth $1.592 million at the time. It was secured by a mortgage for that amount, and the document indicated the property would be surrendered.
The Mexico-born, Texas-bred Trevino worked for a Chicago-area tax advising company when he came to Hawaii to consult for Big Island Toyota and David S. De Luz Sr. Enterprises. After about a yearlong courtship, De Luz lured Trevino away from the Chicago job and the pair teamed up for a variety of business ventures, including real estate and a cattle company near Honokaa.
The suit came after Trevino developed a reputation as a young protégé in the Hawaii’s business community, and several months after Pacific Business News listed Trevino as one of its “Forty Under 40” for 2006, an honor for businesspeople younger than 40.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.