It was reported this week that former Honolulu Manager Director Roy Amemiya has now received a “target” letter from federal investigators, notifying him that he is now a target of a grand jury probing corruption at Honolulu city hall.
The US Department of Justice has issued another target letter to a former high-ranking city employee as part of a sprawling corruption probe, HNN has confirmed.
Roy Amemiya, who served as city managing director under former Mayor Kirk Caldwell, was already on notice when he received a subject letter last year.
But this week, he was notified that he is now a target in the federal corruption investigation.
“It’s a large jump, because one is just a suspicion,” said attorney William Harrison, explaining the difference between a DOJ subject and target letter, “The other one is that we have evidence, substantial evidence against you. So it really turns into a much greater situation.”
There appear to be two schools of thought concerning what brings Amemiya into investigators’ crosshairs.
Hawaii News Now cites statements made by former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha in a deposition in the civil case brought by Katherine Kealoha’s uncle, Gerard Puana.
Kealoha admitted that he had discussions with Caldwell and Amemiya, then managing director, regarding Ethics Commission investigations targeting the former police chief, his wife Katherine, who was a high-ranking deputy prosecutor, and other police officers.
But the Honolulu Star-Advertiser refers to the target letter sent to Donna Leong, the former Honolulu corporation Counsel, the city’s top civil attorney.
According the the Star-Advertiser:
At the time, Caldwell told reporters that Leong’s target letter involved her role in the agreement between Louis Kealoha and the Honolulu Police Commission that allowed Kealoha to retire with benefits, including a $250,000 payout.
I don’t know what issues surrounding the “retirement” agreement might account for the grand jury’s interest.
However, I have thought for some time that the Caldwell administration’s efforts to shut down the Honolulu Ethics Commission’s investigation of Louis and Katherine Kealoha was a key event in the history of this investigation, which eventually led to convictions in federal court for the Kealohas and others.
I’m hoping the federal grand jury action is probing that connection.
See:
June 25, 2015: A two-prong attack on ethics
July 5, 2015: Honolulu Ethics Commission’s media policy gets no support
July 22, 2015: Ethics Commission snared in city efforts to cut rolls of contract employees
November 2, 2017: Ian Lind: It Turns Out We Owe Chuck Totto A Big Thank-You
December 9, 2020: The defense attorney’s take on the Kealoha case and beyond
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Family Justice Center?
Caldwell is as snake-like as they come. He’s conspicuous by his silence as of late, especially since the guy is an attention addict and I imagine would be trying everything to keep himself out there and relevant, knowing his gubernatorial aspirations.
Yeah Ian,
You are going to have a lot more to write about…we’re all waiting…
Curious if Totto has grounds to launch an all out retaliatory lawsuit against the C&C, the City Council, Caldwell, the so called Ethics Commission members at the time he resigned AND the Kealohas??
THAT would be binge worthy following!
It’s been reported that City Council members have testified before the grand jury regarding their procedures for approving city expenditures, and that the $250k payout to Kealoha did not receive Council approval. That could be the basis for targeting Amemiya, but the apparent Ethics Commission obstruction and harassment could also be an issue. Either way, it’s hard to see how Caldwell would not be directly implicated unless he had no idea what was going on at City Hall.
Kirk “Let’s Move On” Caldwell. The buck stops at the top ego.