Ethics

"...These indictments result from ongoing federal investigations into fraud and collusion in the defense contracting industry in Hawaii...."

“...These defendants traded on the reputation of the Shriners Children’s healthcare system to perpetrate their multi-million-dollar fraud...”

... Hawaii politicians and lobbyists star in a movie about their own doings ....

"...gifts of swag and tickets from ... tournament officials can be inferred as being an intent to influence or reward county officers...." -- Maui County Ethics Board

... The Attorney General’s ‘Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’ worked only five cases between 2019 and 2025--they refused to touch this one ....

...Truth in Accounting’s Financial Transparency Score 2026 evaluates how effectively each state government discloses its true financial condition through audited financial reports....

"...the MFCU identified a number of challenges that have impacted its ability to initiate criminal charges and obtain convictions...."

... CLUE: Lawsuit next ....

... Vance named California, Hawaii and New York as states that have 'completely not taken the fraud issue seriously' ....

...Both the Oahu First Circuit Court and the Intermediate Court of Appeals sided against him....

...Is it possible to curb corporate influence without jeopardizing fundamental rights?....

... remember the 'Hawai‘i Green Infrastructure Authority'?  After years of funneling money to 'green' insiders, it has been raided and reassigned ....

... “Unlicensed properties are not currently on our agenda for discussion” ....

...Some labor groups also opposed the measure, arguing it could restrict unions’ political activity, though a proposed union carve-out was rejected in conference....

... "Since the last update, the department’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division (SIPD) has engaged in additional interviews, issued more subpoenas and continues to examine documents received in response to the subpoenas." .... 

...$22.2 billion in delinquent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans that were previously flagged for suspected fraud during the Biden Administration but never sent to Treasury for collection nor referred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for investigation....

...they do little for housing other than to siphon off a share of affordable housing funds for themselves....

...“unauthorized payments totaling approximately $647,061.09 ... via 22 checks from Makaha Surfside and/or Lalawai Hale and/or lolani Regent and/or Palehua Gardens and/or 1040 Kinau”....

“Since January 2018, we have verified approximately $3.0 billion in invoices and withheld approximately $23.5 million”

... the bill is not for the faint of heart .... 

... Miske Mob Were All Union Drivers on Set of Hawaii 5-0 ....

... “raised in the boiler room of local politics” ....

... FULL TEXT: State Auditor's urgent warning to Legislators ....

...With the ‘target letter’ issued to Leo Asuncion Jr, the Sylvia Luke bribery scandal has exploded outward in a wholly new and unexpected direction – the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and with it, the Lahaina Fire coverup....

... a $45K fake invoice, from a non-existent company, August 16, 2023, just one week after Lahaina burned to the ground ....

"There are no controls designed to mitigate fraud risk when Procurement Laws are suspended by emergency proclamations...."

...A federal judge signaled he would allow some civil discovery to proceed in the government's bid to seize the late crime boss Michael Miske's $20 million fortune....

... Three men have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to a public official at the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development ....

" ...effective immediately, following Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke’s decision to take a leave of absence.... "

...If Sylvia Luke took $10K, the $35K bribe recipient is still out there, unidentified....

... DCR employee Julianne Kaniaupio with nine criminal charges for using her position to steal a credit card containing $8,960.11 from the out-processing paperwork of a Hālawa Correctional Facility inmate set for release ....

... along with $1,409,964.35 in restitution to the Small Business Administration ....

“...I intend to continue doing the job I was elected to do...."

... Daylyn Harris, 34, and Chelsea Johnson, 32, of Honolulu, Hawaii, were arrested on July 15, 2025 ....

"...the FSA issued the woman a payment of $65,745, to which she was not entitled...."

... The Nine-Year Scheme Defrauded the Military of $37 Million for Information Technology Contracts Serving U.S. Air Force Installations Across the Pacific ....

... The Sierra Club’s favorite Hawaii carbon credit scheme is run by a former penny stock tout listed in the ‘Panama Papers.’  It isn't going well .... 

... Schatz received at least $131,500 from organizations that oppose the bill ....

"... what is occurring here is a calculated and organized effort by sitting politicians ...."

“(T)here is no question that the legislature was ‘prompted to make a change' by the Hawaii Attorney General’s endorsement of HB2075 of 2022 ….” 

... State Senators, July 29, 2021, rejected the nomination by a 6-17 vote after critics openly complained about Gluck’s ethnicity and gender.  ....

...BIPC is awarding its Lava Tube dishonor to “Legislator X,” the elected official caught on tape accepting a paper bag containing $35,000....

... Eric Yeaman has been selected by the state Probate Court as the newest member of Ke Kula ʻo Kamehameha’s Board of Trustees ....

...an online platform that imposes multiple additional fees on top of those authorized by Hawaiʻi law....

"...Should Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto grant deferred acceptance of Kenolio’s no-contest plea, the conviction will be erased from his record if he stays out of further trouble with the law for a year...."

...The issue:  Would voters favor Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami over incumbent Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke in the August 8, 2026 Democratic Primary race....

“Forfeiture-land is a place where the normal rules don’t work.”

... We reviewed 76 House and Senate bills introduced during the 2026 legislative session, proposing 52 special and revolving funds. None of the proposed funds satisfied the criteria set forth in Section 23-11, HRS, for special and revolving funds ....

...Miske and others conspired to obstruct an earlier criminal forfeiture proceeding by smuggling fentanyl into prison so that Miske could die by overdose and thereby thwart the forfeiture of his criminal proceeds, estimated at over $20 million....

...The audit does not mention the $10,000 Luke initially accepted from lobbyist Tobi Solidum and his stepdaughter before Solidum fled the country....