THE CIA PLAYED A DEVIOUS BUT LEADING ROLE IN THE RISE AND FALL OF BISHOP, BALDWIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820007-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: March 1, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/03: CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820007-2
ART I CIa APPS
ON PAGE
HAWAII INVESTOR
MARCH 1984 M
TANGLED TALE STAT
Oo Gii~~ .
The CIA Played a
devious but leading
role intheriseandfail of
Bishop, Baldwin
Opei
Tom
Baldw
treatin
open
had o
the d
suici
annot
comp
300 i
$17 r
that
happened to their money was ui IL
had been spent, not on the high-
Ron Rewald's defunct consulting firm was a yielding investments that had
front in the most embarrassing tradition. attracted the depositors but on a
cornucopia of business and personal
It's beginning to look like Honolulu was under investigation by state expen that, s Hayes, had
bankruptcy. trustee Thomas Hayes emptisee s d the compa nid ny s coffers.
consumer protection authorities and Rewald, declared Hayes to a
took on more than he bargained for hinted that the firm's chairman, 43- stunned Honolulu b u s i n e s s
when, court appointment in hand, be I year-old Ronald R. Rewald, may not community, had run an elaborate
first strode into the offices of Bishop, be the classy investment wizard that scam. His words were echoed by the
Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham & most everyone thought him to be. bankruptcy judge, who labelled
Wong, Inc. The next day, Rewald was found in -gishop, Baldwin .a "Ponzi scheme"
That was early last August and a Waikiki hotel room with his wrists
wherein investor funds were
Haves' takeover of the Honolulu slashed. Rushed to a hospital, he siphoned off for ulterior purposes and
investment counseling firm with the quickly'
recovered from what the paid back only as necessary to keep
staccato name capped a landslide of police said was an attempted suicide. up the pretence of legitimate
events that in less than a week had But while Rewald was still in the investments.
toppled the company
prominence to ruin.
On July 29, a local television station
aired a report that Bishop, Baldwin
mp a suicl e e
h
On August 4, a Honolulu federal withdrew $140,000 from his account.
court declared Bishop, Baldwin Subsequent disclosures show that
involuntarily ba k
t
d
hospital, the investment empire he'd To no one's surprise, Rewald was
formed just five years before came ;arrested on his release from the
unglued. After a half-hearted attempt f hospital on theft charges from two
at business as usual, Rewald's partner, investors. One of them was John C.
Sunlin "Sunny" Wong, promptly "Jack" Kindschi, a former Bishop,
resigned as company president and Baldwin consultant and close
declared his willingness to cooperate associate of Rewald's. Kindschi had
with any and all of the state and federal been one of Rewald's first visitors in
investigators suddenly gathering on the hospital. Before he joined Bishop,
Bishop, Baldwin's doorstep. The Baldwin in 1981, he was the Honolulu
dapper, 34-year-old Wong was quickly section chief for the Central
followed in his hasty exit by many of Intelligence Agency. Bishop,
the 30 or more attorneys, accountants Baldwin's records carried Kindschi as
and others that Bishop, Baldwin had a $185,000 investor in the company.
brought on board as well-paid They also revealed that on the day of
professional "consultants." Rewald's atte t d
n rup
an
froze its: prior to his "retirement" from the CIA,
assets, along with those of the the 56-year-old Kindschi had written
company's still-hospitalized leader,' personal checks to Bishop, Baldwin
Ron Rewald. and three associated companies
totalling about S2,000. The checks, all
Continued
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/03: CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820007-2