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broad powers “to do anything any citizen may do in any state or
country” and “to construe the meaning and intent of this Contract
and the Trustee(s)’ construction shall be conclusive, legally
binding and will govern.”
According to certain minutes of Hawaii Environmental
Holdings introduced into evidence at trial, the initial trustee,
Lee Allan Hansen, served as sole trustee from June 1, 1993, until
May 20, 1996. On May 21, 1996, Lee Allan Hansen appointed two
additional trustees, Cynthia Kay McNeff and James Scott Sparkman
(Mr. Sparkman). At the time of the trial, Mr. Sparkman claimed
to be the sole trustee of HEH as well as the sole beneficiary of
Mercury Solar, which he described as a business trust.1
HEH’s minutes record that HEH’s goal was to eliminate “the
use of fossil fuels as an energy source for the planet as well as
the state of Hawaii.” The minutes also state that the trustees
were to accomplish this goal through a grassroots referral-based
marketing plan, sales of solar energy, and discretionary
allocations of tax benefits to beneficiaries.
The partnership agreement provided, in relevant part: “By
signing this document you have become a beneficiary of H.E.H.
You will be given a certificate documenting this fact along with
a description of your rights and privileges as a beneficiary.”
1Mr. Sparkman owned Mercury Solar until 1993. At the time
of the trial, Mr. Sparkman was receiving payments from Mercury
Solar as a technical assistant manager.
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