For months, I’ve been thinking that there must be a hidden layer of licensed professionals, accountants, lawyers, and possibly bankers, who aided alleged crime boss Mike Miske in structuring his businesses so that his activities on the wrong side of the law remained hidden.

Last week, federal prosecutors brought charges against a local accountant who, they allege, prepared and filed false tax returns for Miske, his companies, and at least two key insiders. from 2010 through late 2018.

My story on the charges appears today at Civil Beat: “An Accountant Is The Latest To Be Charged In The Miske Case.”

Here’s a brief excerpt.

An accountant has been accused of conspiring with alleged racketeering kingpin Michael J. Miske Jr. to defraud the government by preparing and filing false tax returns, and aiding in bank fraud by advising the Honolulu business owner on false documents to prepare in order to deceive lenders in obtaining bank loans.

Miske and 10 co-defendants were named in a 22-count indictment in July 2020 that included a variety of offenses, ranging from drug trafficking and weapons offenses, to armed robbery, kidnapping and murder for hire.

The charges filed last week against Tricia Ann Castro, a certified public accountant, were the first to target a licensed professional alleged to have aided Miske in concealing his alleged criminal activities, which have become known as the “Miske Enterprise.”

Prosecutors allege Castro conspired with Miske and two individuals identified in the court filing only by their initials, D.F.M. and J.Y.

These appear to refer to Delia-Ann Fabro, also known as Delia-Anne Miske, and Jason Yokoyama.

Fabro/Miske was married to Mike Miske’s son, Caleb, who died in March 2016 as the result of injuries received in a critical accident the previous November. And Yokoyama is Miske’s one-time employee who later became a business partner in the M Nightclub and other ventures.

It is the first time they have been drawn directly into the case against Miske.

It is an interesting new direction in the case, and shows the ongoing federal investigation still has momentum.