Hawaii Corruption Mushrooms with Federal Investigations and Media Attention

 

 

 

Foreword by

Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz and Sherri Kane

May 15, 2019

 

We’ve been SCREAMING about Hawaii corruption damaging the whole United States for years. Paradise’s ‘Judicial Racket’ is unprecedented. The lower levels of ‘The Mob’ are now making headline news. You will read below several disgusting facts that tie into our ongoing lawsuits to regain our stolen property. Our house and health spa too were stolen by the demonically-possessed drug kingpin, Paul J. Sulla, Jr. His acts have been aided-and-abetted by ‘willfully-blind’ corrupted law enforcers and judges that have protected Sulla’s enterprise for the past decade.

The following article was published in the Deep State’s local propaganda-mill–the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.  Having been at the forefront of alerting We The People about these matters, having been personally involved as victims/witnesses/whistleblowers in these matters for more than a decade, we write here to advise you properly before you read the article by Rob Perez.

Perez presents the “tip of the iceberg.” But his report is a ‘red herring’ diversion away from the actual ‘iceberg’ that is melting beneath fraudulent concealment. The ‘heat’ is on, and largely coming from us. So we advise you as consumer-advocates and intelligence analysts with personal involvement in this growing scandal

If you understand the strategic location and importance of Hawaii for East-West ‘maritime trade,’ drug trafficking, and sex slavery networks, you can instantly sense the importance of our reporting on this, the ‘Deep State’s’ narco-empire.

As you read Perez’s article reprinted below under ‘fair usage doctrine’ as per ‘public duty doctrine,’ keep asking yourself: (1) “Where is the Judicial Corruption in this case?” and (2) “Where is the money mainly coming from and going?”

 

Two tips–reasons why you need to be asking those two questions:

Here’s the first tip:  The Supreme Court of Hawaii is officiated by Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald. His office is where the ‘rubber-meets-the-road’ in ultimately deciding or influencing every major Hawaii corruption case adjudicated in State.

Recktenwald also oversees the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) that you will read below is up-to-its-eyeballs in corruption associated with its investigation of foreclosure fraudster, Gary Victor Dubin who ripped us off of $26,000 like he did to countless others. Our mistreatment in the Hawaii courts, for whistleblowing and reporting on the drug-trafficking, money-laundering, property-stealing ‘kingpin’  Paul J. Sulla, Jr., is unconscionable and inconceivable in America (we thought).

Our experience is echoed by many others, citizens and lawyers. Attorney Mark Seitz, for instance, independently reported deep-seated corruption at the ODC that rocked (for an instant) the Chief of Police Louis Kealoha and his Prosecutor sister Katherine. That’s the ‘Kealoha Scandal’ most widely publicized. But there are many other less known cases ongoing, including ours.

Since September, 2018, this outrageously corrupt ODC fell under the direction of Executive Director Bradley Tamm. Tamm was previously suspended by the California State Bar Association for drug abuse, alcohol addiction, embezzling thousands of dollars from clients, and for not paying his victims restitution after getting caught with his hands in their trusts.

Tamm served as the lead attorney for federal bankruptcy trustee Howard Hu in the court of Judge Robert Faris in 2016 when Dr. Horowitz’s bankruptcy case was heard. Faris is also a judge in the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit. Both Hu and Faris neglected federal bankruptcy laws to aid-and-abet drug kingpin Sulla’s theft of Horowitz’s one-of-a-kind property in Pahoa, HI. Tamm’s criminal stewardship with Hu enabled Sulla to steal money from Horowitz and his legitimate creditors. Hu, Tamm and Faris railroaded pro se litigant Horowitz. That forced the doctor to pioneer a self-help weapon against ‘lawfare’ called ProSeLegalAide.com. That wonderful online litigation tool helped Horowitz defend against the ‘Judicial Racket.’ Tamm, Hu and Faris violated their oaths of office by choosing willful blindness over justice in Sulla’s favor. The corrupted officials enabled Sulla’s theft of Dr. H’s property.

A ProSeLegalAide.com/Horowitz victory was won on May 2, 2019 when the Supreme Court of Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) reversed the Third Circuit Court’s grant of the property ceded to Sulla by Tamm, Hu and Faris. That means Tamm, Hu and Faris neglected their duties to do what was obviously needed. Sulla’s non-judicial foreclosure was fraudulent and illegal. The federal officials were supposed to ‘avoid’ Sulla’s transfers of Horowitz’s properties in accordance with State fraudulent transfer laws and Section 544(b)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code. But they recklessly neglected to do so. Horowitz ‘venomously’ opposed this land thievary all along. But the ‘Judicial Racket’ held to its Sulla-contract. The ICA reversal on May 2, 2019, shows in Hawaii judiciary is self-destructing. The corruption of the courts is so widespread, and multiplied cases so imposing, that judges are being forced to rule against judges. Not for simple errors or ‘excusable neglect,’ but for blatant crimes evidencing conspiracy to defraud in a narco-enterprise.

 

More Federal Judges Aiding-and-Abetting the Organize Crimes

The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit is the governing body for federal district and bankruptcy courts in nine western states and two Pacific island jurisdictions. Newly appointed in 2017 as a voting member of the judicial council is Chief District Judge J. Michael Seabright of the District of Hawaii.

Nearly three years ago, Seabright granted Sulla a reprieve from our prosecution for stealing Horowitz’s estate on the Big Island. Seabright ‘administratively stayed’ the $8 million default judgement we gained against Sulla’s lead defense witness in a SLAPP lawsuit Sulla filed to censor our reporting. (We won that one too.) Seabright stonewalled our case against Sulla and Alma C. Ott—America’s leading White Supremacist.

Ott was directed by the late Ted Gunderson, previously the FBI’s Division 5 Chief in Los Angeles, assigned to ‘neutralize’ Black targets, including the Black Panthers. Ott, subordinate to Gunderson, became America’s leading pro-KKK racist. The Neo-Nazi anti-Semite allied with ‘holocaust deniers.’ Their ‘minions’ included ‘COINTELPRO’ agents assigned to ‘take out Horowitz’ and his businesses.

That Seabright case included substantial evidence linking Ott & Company with Sulla.

Seabright’s stay devastated Horowitz financially and emotionally. It effectively enabled Sulla to steal the doctor’s property, and tie-up his career in public health, consumer advocacy, and vaccine injury prevention. Seabright acted to delay, in effect deprive, Horowitz of his timely trial. The result was catastrophic. Horowitz lost everything, driving him to bankruptcy as the Judicial Racket continued to prosecute and persecute him.

Relatedly, the Seabright and Faris federal courts in Honolulu, and the Ibarra, Strance, and Fujino Third Circuit Court(s) on the Big Island, each turned willfully-blind eyes to Sulla’s shenanigans.

And we were not alone. Seabright came under investigation by the Ninth Circuit for “judicial misconduct” (in No. 17-90074) stemming from alleged obstruction of a grand jury investigation naming Sulla for damaging many other victims. Chief Justice Thomas of the Ninth Circuit dismissed the complaint filed by retired police investigator, James Benish. Benish served tirelessly on behalf of society and many victims identified in his Seabright-stonewalled complaint. His grand jury complaint sought justice for many neglected crimes committed in Hawaii, including murder(s). Judge Thomas skirted the issue of Seabright’s obstruction by ruling the matter rests with the Justice Department. This federal buck-passing and stonewalling compounded the same pattern demonstrated by State officials, including agents subordinate to Attorney General Douglas Chin, including lawyers, prosecutors, and public notaries (court officers). Benish’s Affidavit filed with Seabright on 12-10-15 named the officials complicit in money laundering through the Hawaii Community Foundation, among several implicated non-profits and banking institutions.

Most relevant nationally, and most disturbing, Judge Seabright’s obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence that Horowitz and Benish filed (independently) elucidated the Arizona Massacre. The substantial evidence irrefutably linked Sulla’s enterprise to Ott gang of propagandists and sham ‘anti-government’ violence provocateurs. They dominated the social and independent media during Robert Mueller’s investigation of the murder of Arizona Judge John Roll, and shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. In good faith, Horowitz alerted Seabright that the shootings targeted these honorable officials who bravely opposed illegal immigration and cyber-banking check-manufacturing loop-holes for drug-money-laundering. Seabright responded by striking Horowitz’s filings. He ruled the records were “delusional.” He then stayed our $8 million default judgment against Ott, and enabled Sulla to steal our home and adjoining properties. These facts give more than an “impression of impropriety.”

Judge Seabright had no reasonable justification for evidence tampering and harboring a most heinous crime gang and drug cartel profiting from Judge Roll’s assassination. All of this was tied to the legislation opposing money laundering filed by Rep. Giffords in H.R. 5689 (along with Public Law 112-93). Judge Roll and Rep. Giffords worked together. Their heroic actions intended to stop the drug cartel’s illegal immigration and cyber-money-laundering schemes.

Given these facts, and under these circumstances, Judge Seabright’s actions were arguably treasonous, especially since they permitted billions of dollars of drug cartel profits to be subsequently laundered through complicit banks.

A similarly disgusting Sulla-related injustice damaged a San Francisco couple who purchased a property in Maui. Written by Quentin Wells—a retired CIA Russian intelligence agent as a ‘public duty’ their saga exposed the ‘Cardoza cell’ in the Judicial Racket. This report was published recently on JudicialCorruptionNews.com. It alerts Hawaii-bound property investors to beware of the endemic land thievery on the islands, and details the depth in which organized crime involves some of the most esteemed Bar members in State.

So, as you read the following article, notice there is no mention whatsoever to what is most obvious. The courts are corrupt. Any substantive due process in the criminal indictments mentioned have to go through the corrupted courts. Convictions of the named suspects is controlled from above down through State and Federal judges and leading public officials.

Related news breaking at the time of this writing came from the Big Island—home to Hawaii’s leading drug-traffickers, including Sulla. The article by Tiffany DeMasters stated that County Prosecutor Mitch Roth, who did as much harm to us as Sulla by stonewalling criminal investigations, grand juries, and indictments of Sulla; and then claiming the statute of limitations had run, appears to be involved in missing cocaine stolen by police. Roth forwarded that case, unlike our multiple cases, to Attorney General Douglas Chin’s Office in Honolulu. But Chin recused himself, assigning the case to the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office now under investigation by the FBI for extensive crime. DeMasters’s report cited “a conflict of interest” between Chin’s office and Roth’s office. Apparently, neither Roth or Chin desired to get involved in any missing drug matter that cut too close to home.

It may be recalled that Chin blocked President Trumps border security measure that would have damaged drug traffickers mostly, especially those active in Honolulu and Hilo harbors, the latter under Roth’s jurisdiction.

 

“Follow the Money”

Secondly, in the article below, notice reporter Perez neglects to address the obvious (second) question raised by his disclosure that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 has implicated in the corruption scandals. This Union administers the booty incoming and outgoing through Honolulu’s harbors.

Notice that very superficial charges are levied throughout Perez’s article. Contrast this coverage with the multi-billion dollar Rail Project corruption disappearing hundreds of millions at minimum. How did that money disappear? Not through Kealoha’s mailbox, we assure you. Notice Perez’s statement, “Among the allegations investigators are pursuing in the ILWU case is that new stevedores (i.e., dock workers unloading cargo from ships) in some instances had to pay up to $60,000 in cash to work at the docks.” Read between that line.

Ask yourself, “Who paid those bills?” Certainly not the poor dock-workers. Where would they come up with that much money to buy a job?

They are paid to work, and keep their mouths shut. Their paymasters are agents in the same racketeering enterprise that put Seabright, Faris, Hu, Tamm and Recktenwald to work, pays them to keep their mouths shut, and rule as they are told.

And who might that be officiating that Deep State? Daahhhh. Read history. Reflect on the fact that that the Boston Brahman merchant mariners have been controlling the seas for centuries. Recall their most lucrative trade is drug-running, not “missionary work.” Recall the great ‘Opium Wars’ between China and England. Consider the fact that King Kalakaua wanted in on that action at the time he was drugged to death. Recall, at that time, the King was under the care of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Surgeon General, Dr. George W. Woods.

As you read this article, use the aforementioned intelligence to discern what the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the feds, and state officials are actually doing. This is not news. This is propaganda that transparently diverts from the most substantive crimes, crime gangs, and drug kingpins delivering narcotics and human slaves (from Micronesia and elsewhere) through the refueling ports and trafficking centers of Honolulu and Hilo.

 

‘Fake News’ Diverts and Omits Important Details

So as you read Perez’s article, use the aforementioned intelligence to discern what the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is omitting–what the feds and state officials are actually doing.

The people being indicted and discredited are low on the totem-pole of organized crime.

So this is not really ‘news.’ What appears to be a serious federal investigation spewing indictments and catching criminals is not what it appears to be. Certainly some people will go to jail. The feds justify their existence and conceal the bigger crimes and criminals by snatching the ‘low-lying fruit.’

There does, however, appear to be a power-shift taking place over which faction is going to control the Hawaii mob and courts. Perez’s propaganda transparently diverts from this most reasonable conclusion based on the aforementioned observations. The propaganda also conceals Hawaii’s most substantive crimes, crime gangs, and drug kingpins, especially Sulla, delivering narcotics and human slaves (from Micronesia and elsewhere). Overlooked is Hawaii’s central Pacific location for tanker refueling.

And make no mistake about this, we have been urging every news outlet in Hawaii and elsewhere for years to address these deadly and damaging public health and safety menaces. We’ve pleaded with the media–mainstream and independent–to cover these substantive issues. Instead, only superficial reports like Perez’s are published.

We have been smeared as ‘conspiracy theorists’ and worse. Members of the ‘free press,’ duty-bound to serve and protect society  in accordance with their licensing, have neglected their duties.

For instance, you don’t read anything seriously substantive even from Andrew Walden, the manager of the ‘Hawaii Free Press.’ Walden, who adores vaccinations purportedly because they save so many lives, has neglected the aforementioned crimes and criminals for years. He neglected what is obvious, much like David Black’s Honolulu Star Advertiser. Alternatively, Walden smears ‘Punatics’ because Puna is widely known to be Hawaii’s drug capitol, but Walden always neglects the manner in which he aids-and-abets by willful blindness and news censorship the narco-empire surrounding him.

 

CLICK HERE to read and sign the urgent related petition.)

Godfathers of Dope Paradise from Revolution Television on Vimeo

 

 

15 May2019

By Rob Perez – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Originally re-published in Marianas Variety, Micronesia’s Leading Newspaper

THESE are extraordinary times.

The number and breadth of current federal investigations into alleged corruption at Hawaii’s public institutions is unmatched in the state’s history, according to about a dozen former investigators, prosecutors, judges and others who have spent decades working in, documenting or observing the law enforcement arena in the islands.

“I’ve never seen it like this,” said Hawaii Pacific University assistant professor Randal Lee, who worked 25 years in the prosecutor’s office focusing on public corruption cases and a decade as a state judge. “It is unprecedented.”

“It’s shocking,” agreed Doug Chin, a former city prosecutor, state attorney general and lt. governor. “I think it’s a big wake-up call.”

No one contacted by Honolulu Star-Advertiser could recall another time in which so many people with public or quasi-public institutions — from the police department and prosecutor’s office to labor organizations and the corporation counsel office — were under investigation by federal authorities for alleged wrongdoing while on the job.

They also couldn’t recall a time in which so many people at the top of the food chain were targets simultaneously of federal probes.

The former police chief. The city’s top prosecutor. Its top civil attorney.

All three have been ensnared in a multiyear federal investigation that is one of the largest public corruption cases in the state’s history.

The first of two trials scheduled in that case is set to start this month. Retired Police Chief Louis Kealoha; his wife, Katherine Kealoha, a former deputy prosecutor; and three former members of the Honolulu Police Department’s elite Criminal Intelligence Unit are facing conspiracy and obstruction charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

As part of the case, a former police officer pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiracy and a current officer pleaded in January to disclosing confidential information to Katherine Kealoha. A Hawaii island firefighter last year pleaded guilty to conspiring with Katherine Kealoha to lie about their sexual affair. He agreed to cooperate with investigators.

Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, who both received Justice Department letters saying they were targets of the corruption investigation, have not been charged. They are on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Just the Kealoha stuff alone is unprecedented,” said Ken Kobayashi, a retired Star-Advertiser reporter who covered Hawaii’s courts for more than 30 years.

Also facing federal scrutiny: Oahu’s under-construction rail line, at $9.2 billion the largest public works project in the state’s history.

The FBI and the local U.S. Attorney’s office are investigating, and grand jury subpoenas for tens of thousands of documents have been issued to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. The focus of the probe has not been disclosed publicly.

Federal authorities also are pursuing a bribery case linked to government agencies in Hawaii and Micronesia that already has resulted in guilty pleas from the president of a local engineering firm and a Micronesian official.

Frank James Lyon of Honolulu-based Lyon Associates, from around 2011 to 2016, paid about $240,000 in bribes to obtain a $2.5 million contract with a Hawaii government agency that has yet to be identified, according to court records. The company did business with multiple state and city agencies. The probe is ongoing.

In addition, federal authorities are investigating at least two Hawaii trade unions and the state Department of Public Safety.

And these are only the cases that have been made public through court documents and media reports.

With more investigations ongoing, new cases and suspects are expected to be revealed in the months ahead, according to attorneys for witnesses or potential suspects.

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office here would not comment on pending cases, provide local statistics on corruption cases or address the widespread perception that the current scope of investigations is unprecedented. Both offices have policies of not confirming or denying the existence of specific investigations.

Sean Kaul, the FBI’s special agent in charge, and U.S. Attorney Kenji Price did provide the Star-Advertiser with general statements.

“If a federal law has been violated, the FBI will pursue an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice, no matter who they are, what their position or who they know,” Kaul said. “If citizens believe that a local government is turning a blind eye, they can and should always report corruption allegations to the FBI.”

Kaul noted, however, that the vast majority of public officials “are honest in their work and committed to serving their fellow citizens.”

Price said: “Public officials have a duty to serve with the utmost integrity and professionalism. The Department of Justice has and will continue to combat instances of public corruption to help sustain what should be a fundamental public trust in these institutions.”

Willingness to report

Several attorneys, former prosecutors and others attributed the proliferation of federal cases to multiple factors, including that people are increasingly intolerant of unethical officials and are more inclined to report such behavior. And, they added, federal authorities in Hawaii seem to have a free hand to go after cases.

Lee, who served as a deputy prosecutor before becoming a judge in 2005, said public corruption always has been a problem here, but employees historically have reported lower-level managers or staff, not those at the top.

“In the past, you never got to that level,” he said. “People were kind of loyal to their job, to their supervisor and to their own self-interests.”

But a generational shift in attitudes has occurred, Lee added. “The culture has changed. People are demanding more transparency. And the laws protect you from retaliation and discrimination.”

A greater willingness to report corruption has been a national trend, and Hawaii is no exception, according to Jason White, the local spokesman for the FBI.

“We’re seeing that here,” he said. “A lot more people are coming forward.”

Nationally and locally, the FBI has made combating corruption its top priority.

Eric Seitz, a criminal defense lawyer, said the proliferation of federal investigations in Hawaii underscores the unwillingness or inability of some local agencies to monitor themselves — even when legitimate concerns are raised.

“We have been up to now incapable of policing ourselves,” Seitz said.

‘It just keeps unraveling’

Others also cite the greater expertise, resources and independence of the federal government to conduct such investigations. Given the close-knit relationships among state and city agencies, federal investigators bring a greater measure of objectivity and can draw on a larger pool of resources, they add.

“I don’t necessarily see it as the feds being superior,” said Chin, the former prosecutor and attorney general.

The Kealoha case is being handled by federal prosecutors from San Diego.

The complicated nature of white-collar crimes often means that investigations can take several years. They frequently branch out in multiple directions as more evidence is uncovered.

“These things are organic,” said Steve Alm, a former deputy prosecutor, U.S. attorney and state judge. “One thing often leads to another.”

The Kealoha case started as an investigation of a reported mailbox theft. The Kealohas and several police officers were accused of framing Katherine Kealoha’s uncle for the alleged crime. At the time, Kealoha and her relative were engaged in a family dispute over money.

The federal probe has since mushroomed, snaring more suspects and generating additional allegations, including drug dealing and bank fraud.

“It’s like peeling an onion,” said Ken Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project at the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law. “It just keeps unraveling.”

The complex nature of corruption cases also means experts sometimes have to be brought to Hawaii to help, and the federal government typically has more resources to do that and more experienced prosecutors to handle the time-consuming, resource-intensive investigations.

When Alm and his team at the U.S. Attorney’s office pursued the prosecution of former labor leader Gary Rodrigues, a mainland expert on labor racketeering came to Hawaii for two weeks each month for three years to assist with the case, according to Alm.

Rodrigues was convicted of conspiracy, embezzling union money, money laundering and health care fraud in 2002.

In pursuing allegations involving multiple players, it is not uncommon for authorities to go after lower-level suspects or those alleged to have committed lesser offenses, looking to use leverage from those prosecutions to strengthen cases against additional or higher-ranking targets.

Unions under scrutiny

Some attorneys cite the ongoing, multiyear federal investigation of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142.

A plea deal and an indictment earlier this year involving two former officials of that union are an indication that authorities are continuing a broader probe, according to attorneys familiar with the cases.

Nate Lum, former director of the union’s longshore division, reached a deal with federal prosecutors in March, pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and one count of failure to file his federal income tax return. In exchange, the government dropped six other charges, including theft of public money, the most serious one. A conviction on the latter charge would have meant a maximum prison term of 10 years.

Lum, who now faces up to two years in prison for the theft charge and an additional year for failing to file his tax return, admitted that between August 2013 and January 2016, he deposited into his bank account about $33,400 of Social Security checks intended for his father, who had died before that period, according to the plea agreement.

Less than a month after that deal was struck, Charles Kimo Brown, the former secretary-treasurer of the longshore division, was indicted for allegedly embezzling about $1,500 from the union. He pleaded not guilty to two counts each of embezzling union funds and falsifying financial records.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said an attorney who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the cases.

Among the allegations investigators are pursuing in the ILWU case is that new stevedores in some instances had to pay up to $60,000 in cash to work at the docks, the attorney said.

The feds also are investigating the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, though no one has been charged in that case. They are examining spending and other matters related to the electrical union.

Seitz, the defense attorney, has four potential cases linked to investigations and said lately he has been in contact with federal authorities at least weekly. “That has never happened before in my life.”

Chin, the former prosecutor, said he sympathizes with all the dedicated, ethical employees at the various government agencies under investigation. They have to deal with the extra work and public criticism that such scrutiny brings to their workplace, he added, while trying to do jobs that already are tough enough.

“I always feel bad when they get drawn into what’s happening above them,” Chin said. “These (cases) take up a lot of bandwidth.”

But the message being underscored by all the corruption investigations is unmistakable, according to Chin and others: If you abuse the public’s trust, the consequences can be severe.

A history of corruption

Here are some high-profile public corruption cases federal authorities prosecuted in Hawaii in recent decades:

Gary Rodrigues

The former state director of the United Public Workers union was convicted in 2002 of conspiracy, embezzling union money, money laundering and health care fraud. He served more than four years in prison.

Andy Mirikitani

The city councilman was sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison in 2001 for theft, bribery, extortion, wire fraud and witness tampering. He offered bonuses to two aides and received kickbacks from them.

Daniel Kihano

The former state House speaker was convicted in 1997 of money laundering, obstruction of justice and filing a false income tax return after he diverted $27,000 from his campaign fund for personal use. He was released from prison in 1999 because of poor health and died the following year.

Milton Holt

The former state senator in 1999 pleaded guilty to mail fraud as part of a plea agreement after he was accused of using campaign funds for personal use. He served about six months in a mainland prison.

Nathan Suzuki

The former state representative was sentenced in 2005 to three years in prison for conspiring with a Honolulu businessman to defraud the IRS by setting up offshore corporations and bank accounts to avoid tax liability.

Multiple agencies

More than 35 people were indicted in the mid-2000s as part of a massive wiretap operation sparked by the discovery that an FBI clerk was using her access to confidential information to tip off drug dealers. The suspects included the clerk, five police officers, a Honolulu liquor inspector and the Aloha Stadium security chief. Three of the officers were convicted of trying to protect an illegal gambling operation, the clerk was convicted of tapping into a federal database without authorization and the inspector and security chief pleaded guilty to charges related to extorting owners of two bars.

Honolulu Liquor Commission: Eight inspectors were indicted in 2002 for accepting bribes from bar owners in exchange for not enforcing liquor laws. All eight were convicted.