Condo owners: Charges bogus

KAPAA, Kauai (AP) - Condominium owners at a new Kauai beach resort claim their developer billed them for $2.2 million he should have paid himself.

The condo owners accuse developer Chris Singleton of using their maintenance fees at Waipouli Beach Resort to pay for his own bill for such things as electricity bills, bar furniture and construction.

The residents at the 182-unit resort - which features a spa and a 300,000-gallon saltwater pool with water slides - have complained to the Kauai prosecuting attorney and the state Regulated Industries Complaint Office.

An audit by a forensic accountant found more than $2.2 million in ''questionable'' charges to condo owners since the development opened in January 2007, according to members of the condo board.

The audit found that six rooms owned by Singleton were wired directly into the main electric meter for the entire complex, while the rest of the units had their own electric meters. The bill for the main electric meter was paid from the condo owners' maintenance fees.

''He's commingled everything,'' said Richard Blohm, a condo owner. ''Everything he's using in his private commercial'' space is being paid for through the maintenance fees, he said.

Singleton repaid more than $32,000 for the electric bill, but the rooms remain wired to the main meter, the condo owners said.

Before the audit, the condo owners paid nearly $1,600 in monthly fees, but now they pay about $1,300 a month, plus the cost of their mortgage, electricity and taxes.

''Everybody was sort of horrified,'' said David Leinweiber, a former condo board owner.

Blohm said Singleton manipulated the condo board to enable him to bill owners for leasing furniture in the bar, personal landscaping, umbrellas and lava rocks. Those costs should have been covered in the construction costs, Blohm said.

Singleton said Blohm and Leinweiber are retaliating against him after they were removed from the condo board.

''I am committed to working with the new board of directors to fully address and resolve all issues facing the resort, including the accounting issues identified in the forensic accountant's report,'' Singleton said in an e-mail reply to questions from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. ''I have already made several payments to the (condo owners) and have agreed to pay all expenses that are legitimately the developer's responsibility.''