Lavish GOP Donor Reportedly Tried to Trade on Connections

A Japanese-born California businessman whose lavish donations have become an embarrassment to the Republican Party tried to trade on his political connections to win help from U.S. diplomats in Hong Kong and Tokyo, sources said Sunday.

Armed with letters of introduction, Michael Kojima met with officials from the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service in Hong Kong and Tokyo last fall on behalf of a Canadian-Chinese consortium that tried unsuccessfully to land contracts on the multibillion-dollar Hong Kong airport, diplomats said.

Kojima drew the spotlight last month as the largest single donor to the $9-million “President’s Dinner,” a fund-raiser for GOP congressional candidates in Washington. Because of his large donation, Kojima sat with President Bush.

GOP officials initially said Kojima gave $400,000. But a spokesman for the dinner told the Associated Press that Kojima wrote two checks for a total of $500,000. The second check arrived later, he said.

Kojima told GOP officials that he was a consultant for an international construction project, but no one in Washington, California or Tokyo seemed to know who Kojima worked for or where his money came from.

Kojima has recently placed two firms in bankruptcy, and his creditors--including an ex-wife who says Kojima owes her $100,000--contend the money was not Kojima’s to give.

The ex-wife, Soon Kojima of Harbor City, Calif., asked Bush to give her the $100,000 so her two sons could pay for college. Another ex-wife, a Burbank beautician named Chong Kojima, came forward to demand back child support. Business creditors’ claims would put Kojima’s total debts at more than $1 million.

Embarrassed GOP officials put the contributions in escrow while they get legal advice. Kojima has not returned calls for comment.

Two businessmen who met Kojima in Japan said he portrayed himself as a political insider. He dropped the names of important Japanese and American politicians and businessmen, wore a Presidential Roundtable pin on his lapel and frequently flashed a photograph of himself with Bush, they said.

Kojima also gave $3,000 to Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) last year. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo later received a fax from Murkowski’s office introducing Kojima, an embassy spokesman said Sunday.

Kojima told embassy officials he represented PYCY Hong Kong Ltd. and wanted introductions to Japanese banks who could provide financing for airport work, the spokesman said. But officials realized Kojima’s proposed project would not benefit American companies and suggested that he turn to the Japanese political process instead.

Meanwhile, Kojima was promising PYCY that he could arrange $1 billion in loans from Japanese sources “on a personal basis,” David Pun, a principal in PYCY, told the AP. “When we hired him on a contingency basis, the only reason was that he was attached to the U.S. Republicans, and he was a member of the Presidential Roundtable,” Pun said.

In October, the Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong did get a letter from the Presidential Roundtable introducing Kojima, a consulate spokesman said Sunday. To join the group, an individual must give at least $5,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

A week later, Kojima asked the consulate to set up appointments with the Hong Kong airport authorities. The consulate obliged, and Kojima met with airport officials, but did not land a contract, the spokesman said.