Rear Admiral to Oversee Red Hill Defueling
Rep Kahele Meets with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen
4th Extension--COVID Emergency Lingers on in Food Stamps
Stant, Choy plead guilty in $2M bribery scheme
MN: … Prosecutors said that Stant received $733,176 in bank deposits and $644,570 in cash deposits from Choy from October 2012 to December 2018, as well as $424,987 in travel benefits that included airfare and hotels. Las Vegas gaming records also document that Stant cashed in more than $183,000 in gambling chips that he did not purchase.
In exchange for financial benefits, Stant “regularly guided and arranged the awarding” of at least 56 Department of Environmental Management contracts to H2O worth about $19.3 million, according to his plea agreement.
Text messages also documented conversations between Choy and Stant regarding potential rewards for Stant’s actions.
On May 16, 2016, Stant texted Choy to say that he was “waiting for a PO#” (purchase order number) in order for the county to pay Choy and H2O Process Systems, said Sorenson, who read the contents of the messages aloud in court on Monday. The next day, Choy responded, “if we can get the big check Thursday, I will have something for you when I come to Maui.”
On Aug. 29, 2016, Stant texted Choy to notify him that a check for a purchase order “will be cut by tomorrow morning.” Choy responded Aug. 31, 2016, saying he hoped the purchase order would go through the next day and that “when we go up, I will have 125 for you.”
Sorenson said this referred to an upcoming trip to Las Vegas that the two planned to take and that Choy was promising $125,000 to Stant once they arrived….
SA: Former Maui official and Honolulu executive plead guilty in bribery scheme
read … Stant, Choy plead guilty in lucrative bribery scheme
Star-Adv: If we had better local oversight we could keep the Feds out of Hawaii
SA Editorial: … What’s been going on with corruption in Hawaii government these days? Way, way too much — and not nearly enough.
The excess has been in the cases themselves, two of which are linked to the same corporate interest, all of which reveal greed and the unwillingness to adhere to rules that apply to everyone in public service.
(Translation: Too many of our crooked games have been exposed. We need to stop exposing our crookedness.)
What’s lacking is regular oversight. Nobody seems to be watching the hands that hold the purse strings, until a whistleblower speaks up and, more likely than not, the federal prosecutors descend to clean up Hawaii’s mess.
(Translation: If we had better local oversight, we could keep these games from drawing Federal attention.)
Victorino’s statement on Friday that he had ordered an audit of no-bid contracts awarded to Choy’s companies is a logical one. It is important to know the extent of Choy’s interactions with state and county governments: There could be more shoes to drop, news of other participants in these illicit deals.
The question is: Why isn’t this kind of due-diligence review simply part of the regular routine?
Stant clearly needed someone else assigned to also sign off on the issuance of these contracts….
(Reality: The mafia wants State jurisdiction to handle everything. Their mantra: Keep the Feds out of it.)
read … Improve oversight against corruption
Ige Pushes Legislators for special session to tackle ruling that’s put hundreds of felony cases at risk
HNN: … There is a special session being planned to handle judicial appointments next month. But that only includes the Senate. The Governor’s Office said Gov. David Ige is working with legislative leaders to discuss a special session over the ruling, too.
The governor could call a special session or lawmakers could do it themselves with two-thirds approval in the House and Senate….
CB: Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office Seeks Special Session to Reverse High Court’s Grand Jury Decision
read … Lawmakers eye special session to tackle ruling that’s put hundreds of felony cases at risk
Suspect, 52, charged for alleged kidnapping of 15-year-old girl on Hawaii island--30 year criminal transcript, 10 convictions
SA: … Duncan Kealoha Mahi was charged with two counts each of kidnapping, terroristic threatening in the first degree, robbery in the first degree and one count each of methamphetamine trafficking and sex assault in the first degree, police said.
Mahi remains in custody with bail set at $2 million. His initial appearance in Hilo District Court is scheduled for Tuesday. (This is what they do when you are paying attention.)
Mahi allegedly abducted the 15-year-old girl from the beach at Anaehoomalu Bay in Waikoloa on Friday afternoon.
The event triggered a Maile Amber Alert with a response from multiple local, state and federal agencies before the girl was able to free herself from her captor with the assistance of several good Samaritans on Saturday….
(In order to tamp down pressure for a Special Session, Mahi’s criminal record as been left out of the coverage.)
WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU:
PDF: Duncan Mahi age 52 with a 30-year criminal transcript -- 10 criminal convictions including burglary, resisting arrest, terroristic threatening, and domestic abuse. The 1992 burglary got Mahi one year in jail as did the 2019 terroristic threatening conviction.
ECourtKokua: 3CPC-19-0000426 TERRORISTIC THREATENING I Severity: FC - Felony Class C No Contest-09/26/2019 Probation for 4 Year(s) subject to mandatory terms and conditions - 09/26/2019 -- Probation Revoked Three Times: 07/08/2019 (arrested 7/8/19), 03/09/2022 (arrested 06/24/2022), 09/13/2022 (not arrested, allegedly kidnapped victim Sept 16, 2022)
read …Suspect, 52, charged for alleged kidnapping of 15-year-old girl on Hawaii island
Prosecutor: Puna murder ‘especially heinous, atrocious’--Caps off COVID Crime Spree, 45 arrests since 2020
HTH: … A 36-year-old Pahoa man charged with murder allegedly told a police detective he choked the victim, tried to drown her by putting water on her face, and sprayed her with a fire extinguisher.
The suspect, Michael Carvalho II, also described the victim, 34-year-old Makalapuanani “Maka” Mauga, as a missing juvenile that he helped, according to court documents iled by police.
(Typical Meth-head story. They always claim to be the ‘heroes’.)
Mauga’s partially clothed, lifeless body was found early Thursday morning at a vacant home in the 15-300 block of Kahakai Boulevard in Pahoa’s Hawaiian Beaches subdivision.
Mauga was found lying on her stomach, her hands bound by rope and her feet by a size XL men’s T-shirt.
Her body was covered by a blue substance that appeared to be the contents of an empty fire extinguisher found on the property, and water was running through a nearby garden hose hooked up to a bloody spigot, police said.
Carvalho was found hiding near a rock wall on the property in the fetal position with a rusty crowbar in his possession, according to documents….
(In order to tamp down pressure for a Special Session, Mahi’s criminal record as been left out of the coverage.)
WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU:
PDF: Michael Carvalho II age 36 with a 17-year criminal transcript -- 24 criminal convictions including 13 convictions between 2005 and 2016 including felony terroristic threatening.
In 2016 Carvalho’s probation was revoked. He was released DATE COVID release??
11 convictions between 2021 and 2022 including multiple counts of theft and assault.
ECourtKokua shows 45 criminal complaints against Carvalho beginning March 16, 2020. NOTE: Ige’s COVID emergency declarations begin March 5, 2020.
Deemed ‘Unfit to Proceed’ 05/11/2021 in case# 3DCW-20-0001600 then ‘Order of Dismissal and Release From Custody, filed.’
Arrested 08/29/2022 in Pahoa for Habitual Property Crime Felony 3CPC-22-0000677. Released on $2500 bail Sept 2 2022.
Charged with murder Friday Sept 16, 2022.
read … Prosecutor: Puna murder ‘especially heinous, atrocious’
Kaua‘i felonies may be dismissed because Supreme Court ruling in State V. Obrero
TGI: … Koloa man Kristofer Dwight Bush is facing a range of felony charges, including attempted murder, for an April incident where he allegedly attacked his girlfriend and her family with pepper spray before stabbing her and her brother.
With the recent state Supreme Court ruling in State v. Obrero, the case against him is now up in the air….
The Kauai Prosecutor does … one or two cases charged by criminal complaint a month….
At the Lihu‘e courthouse Thursday morning, Akamu made a motion to dismiss the Bush case based on the Obrero ruling. If this motion is upheld, prosecutors would have to start from scratch and convene a grand jury to charge him again….
read … Kaua‘i felonies may be dismissed because Supreme Court ruling in State V. Obrero
Retired Honolulu police sergeant charged with sexual assault of teen
SA: … A retired Honolulu police sergeant with 25 years of experience on the force was arrested Friday and charged with continuous sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, according to police booking records.
Fredrick Patrick Apo, 62, was arrested at 2:20 p.m. Friday at his home on Kaupea Street in Kapolei. He was charged today with continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of fourteen years and is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.
The charge is a class “A” felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison….
SA: Retired and current Hawaii police sergeants accused of sexual assault
read … Retired Honolulu police sergeant charged with sexual assault of teen
Maui police sergeant arrested for first-degree sex assault
HNN: … A Maui Police Department sergeant has been arrested for first-degree sex assault.
Sgt. Justin Mauliola, 35, was arrested Monday.
He’s a 13-year veteran of the agency and his police powers have been removed. He was also placed on paid administrative leave….
SA: Retired and current Hawaii police sergeants accused of sexual assault
read … Maui police sergeant arrested for first-degree sex assault
Fix government hiring procedures
SA Editorial: … “The city’s current staffing challenges have been years — if not decades — in the making,” found Abdurrehman Naveed, the Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership Initiative fellow who conducted the diagnostic study. “As a deep-rooted, structural issue that is as much a labyrinth to insiders as to outsiders and involves a myriad of actors and moving parts, there are unsurprisingly few ‘quick fixes’ here.”…
The report gave this glance into the city’s sluggish, 181-day-average hiring process, broken down to three stages:
>> Stage 1, processing/approvals within the initiating department and from the Budget and Human Resources departments: 62 days.
>> Stage 2, requisition to referral, including job advertising and initial screenings: 49 days.
>> Stage 3, interview and selection: 70 days.
Imagine such a lengthy process for candidates — many of whom are no longer available for the job after six long months.
PP: Diagnostic Report of the City’s Recruitment Timelines – Baseline Analysis
read … Fix government hiring procedures
DPP Permitting Positions Mostly Vacant After 6 Head for Federal Penitentiary
HPR: … "We have 20,000 applications that come through us per year," Takeuchi Apuna told HPR. "We have just have a handful of plan reviewers, so it just doesn't make sense. The numbers don't make sense proportionally to the amount of permits that come through."
According to Takeuchi Apuna, DPP has a 25% vacancy rate — or 80 open positions. A majority of those openings are in the permitting division, which is responsible for reviewing plans of projects and issuing permits to allow construction to move forward…..
read … Honolulu's acting planning department director says staffing is top priority
Continued secrecy of Miske-related search warrants being challenged
CB: …The government responded that the records had to remain confidential because there is an ongoing investigation of others who are suspected of committing crimes along with Miske and his co-defendants…..
On July 11, Judge Derrick Watson signed an order largely agreeing with the CB Law Center, and requiring that the search warrants be unsealed unless, within 60 days, the government files a statement “disclosing the specific factual basis for continuing the seal” on each individual warrant or any portion thereof….
On September 8, days before the 60-day deadline, the government filed a “ Statement in Support of Extension of Certain Sealing Orders.”
The document itself is not publicly available, so it isn’t yet known whether the government has asked to keep all of the records secret, or only selected records….
read … Continued secrecy of Miske-related search warrants being challenged
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