Lawsuit : Bissen insiders Stole $45K from County days after Lahaina Fire
by Andrew Walden
Immediately after the August 8-9, 2023, Lahaina and Kula Fires, officials in Maui Mayor Richard Bissen’s Office of Economic Development were busy embezzling money for themselves, friends, and family.
That’s the lawsuit allegation filed in Hawaii’s Second Circuit Court, April 24, 2026, by Mayor Bissen’s former Chief of Staff, Leo Caires. (Case# 2CCV-26-0000138 Leo Caires v County of Maui. PDF: Complaint.)
When Caires reported the criminal activity to Bissen, Bissen demoted Caires and then fired him over the Christmas holiday, December, 2024--after first allegedly attempting to bribe Caires into resigning (see line 184 from Complaint).
In response, Bissen tells reporters, “Mr. Caires’ allegations are inaccurate, and the county is confident it will prevail in court. The concerns he raises were identified by others at the time, and we reject any attempt to revise history.”
Wrong.
Caires’ allegations involve direct theft of County funds. For instance, Caires alleges OED insiders created a fake invoice for $45,532.32 from a non-existent company named ‘RTFEX Depot’ dated August 16, 2023. The akamai reader will notice this is what Bissen’s OED was doing just one week after Lahaina burned to the ground, killing 102 people. They then spent the next year and a half trying to cover it up-while Lahaina was trying to rebuild.
As a result, Caires recommended that Mayor Bissen’s Executive Assistant, identified in the suit as, ‘MA aka Pono,’ be terminated, but, according to the suit, Bissen instead reassigned ‘MA’ to “a position in the OED working in the department that issues grants.” (see line 125 from Complaint)
Contrary to Bissen’s claim, Caires’ allegations have NOT been raised by others. They are above and beyond the OED self-dealing exposed in the following timeline:
- July 9, 2024: Maui Ethics Board Advisory-Opinion-24A-08 (NOTE: Caires alleges Bissen repeatedly cited a non-existent Ethics Board approval for the $45K expenditure. Adv Opinion 24A-08 is the ONLY Ethics Board action on the scandal and it clearly does not authorize the thefts. Moreover, it was written long after Bissen had claimed to possess an Ethics letter.)
- CB Aug 15, 2024: In just one year, A Maui County Appointee Oversaw $1.4M Grants To Profitable Nonprofits Tied To Her Family Members Two nonprofits with family ties to Luana Mahi, an economic development director for Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, won more than $1 million in county grants overseen by Mahi since she was appointed in 2023. Mahi’s husband Kalani Mahi was paid directly under a county grant for a watershed project. A company owned by her son, Keokoa Mahi, was hired to manage that grant. And another one of her son’s nonprofits got a $44,000 grant from the county to build a “Maui Wall of Fame” now in the Kahului Airport. In addition, a county employee in Mahi’s office was paid to moonlight as an administrative assistant for one of the nonprofits tied to her. The Maui Board of Ethics ruled in early July that Mahi’s oversight of those grants amounted to a conflict of interest. … Two nonprofits that were grant recipients had ties to Mahi: Brilliant Minds Media and the Maui Food Technology Center….
- CB Aug 21, 2024: Maui Economic Development Director Luana Mahi Placed On Paid Leave Pending Ethics Investigation
- Maui News Aug 23, 2024: Maui County places embattled Economic Development Director on paid leave
- News Release from office of the Mayor, Aug 24, 2024: Maui Economic Development: Official Gets Paid Leave After Giving $1.4M to Friends and Family “On August 20, 2024, County of Maui Office of Economic Development (OED) Director Luana Mahi was placed on leave with pay pending further investigation.” Mahi’s LinkedIn page says: “Director, County of Maui Office of Economic Development, Jan 2023 - Jan 2025, 2 yrs 1 mo.”
A key passage from Caires’ suit alleges extensive efforts by Bissen to cover-up the post-fire theft:
29. On or about March 12, 2024, Mr. Caires conferred with the Department of the Corporation Counsel, County of Maui (“DCCM”), regarding a request for legal service to the DCCM from Maui County Grant Specialist, “TT”.
30. TT provided a file to the DCCM and Mr. Caires regarding suspicious activity of a grant given by the OED to grantee, “AVS”.
31. The next day, the DCCM emailed Mr. Caires to follow up on the call they had the previous day and requested that Mr. Caires review the file.
32. At that time, most grant agreements provided by the OED were signed by the Chief of Staff, Budget Director, Mayor, and/or the DCCM.
33. The implementation of grant agreements was managed by the OED.
34. As Chief of Staff, Mr. Caires was highly concerned of potentially fraudulent activity regarding grants from the OED and employees of Mayor Bissen’s office.
35. On or about March 14, 2024, Mr. Caires reviewed the file provided to him and discovered a suspicious invoice for $45,532.32 from a company named RTFEX Depot dated August 16, 2023.
36. There were also unverifiable debit and credits of money to Mayor Bissen’s Executive Assistant, “MA” (a.k.a. “Pono”), in connection with RTFEX Depot and the AVS grant.
37. Based on information of belief, MA was a donor to Mayor Bissen’s mayoral campaign.
38. Mr. Caires noticed discrepancies in the RTFEX Depot invoice and no suite number for the business address in Scottsdale, AZ.
39. Mr. Caires’ extensive educational and occupational background working with financial institutions enabled Mr. Caires to identify potentially fraudulent activity.
40. Mr. Caires called the business phone number provided on the invoice from RTFEX Depot to verify the business credentials and was met with an answering machine with an automated voice message.
41. The message did not even state that it was RTFEX Depot.
42. Moreover, Mr. Caires searched the internet and could not find a company named RTFEX Depot that was listed on the invoice.
43. Mr. Caires also called the Arizona Corporation Commission and spoke with an administrator providing the address on the invoice as well as the business name.
44. The administrator told Mr. Caires that none of the information on the invoice were associated or registered to any address in Arizona.
45. Based on information and belief, Mr. Caires’ investigation revealed that MA and AVS likely submitted false cashiers’ checks made out to a fake company to the OED for reimbursement. Later that day, Mr. Caires called the DCCM and notified them that he believed there was fraud committed between AVS and MA with the OED based on his investigation and review of the file.
46. The DCCM then followed up with an email to Mr. Caires informing him that a formal investigation appeared to be the next step.
47. Mr. Caires agreed and recommended that a formal investigation be conducted to inspect the documents provided by AVS to the OED.
48. On or about March 14, 2024, Mr. Caires called the grantee of AVS, “RC”, to question him about the grant funds he received for AVS.
49. RC stated that he was a friend of MA and that they attended school with each other on Moloka`i.
50. RC stated that MA was responsible for purchasing equipment for AVS because MA stated that he was able to get military discounts.
51. Mr. Caires reviewed the RTFEX Depot invoice and discovered that a military discount was not reflected on it.
52. RC also told Mr. Caires that RC could not make any contact with RTFEX Depot and that it was only MA who dealt directly with RTFEX Depot.
53. RC also stated that MA was responsible for getting the equipment to RC on Moloka`i.
54. On or about March 14, 2024, after his call with RC, Mr. Caires called MA who stated that he received the equipment he purchased from RTFEX Depot from a third party at the parking lot of Target in Kahului.
55. MA did not specify who the third party was.
56. MA also stated that the equipment could not be shipped directly to RC in Moloka`i because of the type of battery in the equipment.
57. MA stated that he would personally transport the equipment to RC on Moloka`i.
58. This further raised suspicion from Mr. Caires because the invoice from RTFEX Depot was dated August 16, 2023.
59. Mr. Caires asked MA if he could provide documents from a bank verifying funds debited from MA’s bank and credited to RTFEX Depot.
60. MA replied that it would be difficult to get the bank statements since the transaction was so long ago and RTFEX Depot never provided a packing slip for the equipment.
61. MA was only able to provide a photo image of the equipment that he later provided to OED Director at that time, “LM”.
62. The photo image of the alleged equipment simply showed equipment laid out on a floor.
63. MA also stated to Mr. Caires that he spoke with Mayor Bissen and that Mayor Bissen already knew about MA’s involvement in the transaction.
64. MA stated, “I talked to boss [Mayor Bissen] already, and I thought this was done.”
65. Mr. Caires then asked MA to get the requested information back to Mr. Caires by end of day on March 20, 2024.
66. This was the last time Mr. Caires spoke with MA.
Mr. Caires Reports Illegal Activity in the Workplace to Mayor Bissen
67. On or about March 15, 2024, Mr. Caires first reported to Mayor Bissen the investigation Mr. Caires was conducting into AVS and the appearance of fraud between AVS and MA with the OED.
68. Mayor Bissen then directed Mr. Caires to speak with LM regarding the matter.
69. Thereafter, Mr. Caires spoke with LM, and she stated that MA had a letter from the Maui County Board of Ethics (“Board of Ethics”) dated October 27, 2023, that verified he was allowed to participate in the grant to AVS.
70. Mr. Caires’ investigation revealed that MA’s request for the letter from the Board of Ethics was made on or about July 26, 2023.
71. The transaction of the AVS grant money to MA allegedly took place on or about August 16, 2023, prior to any Board of Ethics letter being issued.
72. LM also admitted that she was “just trying to help [MA]” regarding the AVS grant.
73. LM provided Mr. Caires with a photo image from her phone of the equipment MA allegedly purchased from RTFEX Depot.
74. The photo image only showed equipment on a blank floor and did not verify the origin of the equipment.
75. On or about March 15, 2024, Mr. Caires called Mayor Bissen’s Executive Assistant, ZK.
76. MA and ZK were close friends at work so Mr. Caires wanted to see if ZK had any knowledge of MA’ participation in grants from the OED.
77. Mr. Caires told ZK that Mr. Caires was concerned about a transaction involving MA and grantee, RC.
78. ZK stated that he would talk to MA about it. ZK also stated that he never saw MA exchange equipment with another party, but he was aware of MA’s participation in a grant transaction and did not know the specifics.
79. On or about March 18, 2024, ZK told Mr. Caires that he drove MA to Hawaii State Federal Credit Union (“HSFCU”) so MA could get the bank statements Mr. Caires requested.
80. ZK stated that the HSFCU said they would provide the documents in about seven to ten (7 to 10) business days.
81. Mr. Caires became even more suspicious because the cashiers’ check to MA he reviewed from the file and requested the bank statements for were from American Savings Bank.
82. On or about March 20, 2024, ZK told Mr. Caires that MA again went to the HSFCU and requested documents and the HSFCU stated it would take some time to get the documents because it was over thirty (30) days.
83. This further raised suspicion to Mr. Caires because it contradicted the timeline of getting the documents previously told to him.
84. On or about March 19, 2024, Mr. Caires drafted a Notice of Interview Regarding Internal Workplace Investigation (“the Notice”) for MA with the assistance of the DCCM.
85. Mr. Caires gave a copy of the Notice to Mayor Bissen.
86. Mayor Bissen indicated that he did not want anything to do with the Notice and appeared agitated by it.
87. On or about March 20, 2024, Mayor Bissen’s Senior Executive Assistant at that time, CL, who was the supervisor of Mayor Bissen’s Executive Assistants including MA, gave Mr. Caires a copy of MA’s HSFCU bank account statement.
88. It showed approximately $20,000.00 and transactions from another vendor that had nothing to do with the invoices or the cashiers’ checks in the AVS file that was the focus of Mr. Caires’ investigation.
89. Mr. Caires found it odd that CL hand delivered MA’s personal bank statement on behalf of MA.
90. CL told Mr. Caires that MA admitted that he made a mistake and was feeling bad about it and that MA was planning to leave his job as Executive Assistant.
91. Mr. Caires then explained the investigation to CL regarding MA and his possible fraudulent activity with AVS and the OED.
92. CL appeared bothered and did not want to know more about the investigation.
93. CL also admitted that she knew MA acted as an agent in other grants that had nothing to do with his role as Executive Assistant.
94. Mr. Caires believed that MA acting as an agent on the AVS grant was not only a violation of the terms of the grant agreement, but also fraud against the County of Maui by an employee of Mayor Bissen’s office.
95. On or about April 16, 2024, Mr. Caires spoke with Mayor Bissen and reported to him an update of the investigation into MA.
96. Mayor Bissen returned to Mr. Caires a packet containing documents regarding the investigation Mr. Caires conducted.
97. Mr. Caires notified Mayor Bissen that he was placing the Notice on MA’s desk.
98. Mr. Caires put the Notice on MA’s desk with a note requesting that MA sign acknowledgement of the Notice by 10:00 a.m. the following day.
99. The next day, MA emailed Mr. Caires requesting an extension of time to sign the Notice.
100. Later that day, Mr. Caires responded and stated he could not give MA legal advice and that an investigation into MA already started.
101. Mr. Caires received guidance from the DCCM to tell MA that he should speak to the Human Resources department. Mayor Bissen was cc’d on the email.
102. On or about April 26, 2024, MA did not show up to a scheduled meeting with Mr. Caires. Mr. Caires then emailed MA and cc’d Mayor Bissen and the DCCM and notified them that he was waiting to meet with MA.
103. On or about April 30, 2024, Mayor Bissen called Mr. Caires at home and was upset with Mr. Caires.
104. Mayor Bissen notified Mr. Caires that MA had a letter from the Board of Ethics that stated MA was allowed to be involved with the grant to AVS.
105. However, Mr. Caires was not just concerned whether MA should have been able to act as an agent in the AVS grant, but he was most concerned that MA may have defrauded the County of Maui and conspired with the Office of the Mayor staff to embezzle $45,532.32 that AVS received from the OED grant.
106. Mr. Caires told Mayor Bissen that there should be an investigation despite the letter from the Board of Ethics.
107. Mayor Bissen got upset at Mr. Caires and ordered him to stop the investigation into MA.
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PDF: Complaint
BACKGROUND:
COVERAGE: