[Correction: This post originally estimated the total amount involved in this fraud case at $1.5 million. This has been reduced to $750 based on information in a June 24 press release by the Office of the Attorney General.]
Robert Earl Chapman, a former managing partner at one of Hawaii’s largest law firms, has been indicted on 22 counts including forgery, theft, and identity theft in connection with an alleged scheme to seize control of about $750,000 from a deceased Honolulu resident’s estate.
Chapman, a graduate of the University of Maryland law school, was licensed to practice law in Hawaii in 1980. He became a named partner in the firm, then known as Stanton, Clay, Tom & Chapman, Attorneys At Law, in 1987, and later served as managing director of the firm, then known as Clay Chapman Iwamura Pulice & Nervell. He resigned from the practice of law in lieu of discipline in 2022.
The grand jury indictment was filed in Honolulu’s First Circuit Court on Friday morning, June 20, by the Office of the Attorney General. A Grand Jury Bench Warrant set bail at $1 million, and Chapman posted a $1 million bond after the warrant was served on Saturday afternoon.
A grand jury indictment is a one-sided process, based only on the prosecutors’ version of events and interpretation of the evidence. It means that the grand jury believed there was enough evidence to bring charges, but is not proof that any crimes have occurred.
Court records do not indicate whether Chapman has retained an attorney, and he has not yet had an opportunity to respond to the charges or enter a plea in the case.
According to the indictment, Chapman allegedly accessed confidential personal information of Robert Boulette without authorization on or about October 19, 2018. Then, “with intent to defraud,” Chapman allegedly created or altered what “purported to be the will and codicil of Robert Boulette” which he then used to take control of the accounts and properties making up Boulette’s estate.
None of the offense were “discovered prior to January 13, 2023, by either an aggrieved party or a person who has a legal duty to represent an aggrieved party,” the indictment states.
Boulette died in Honolulu in November 2016 at age 77. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Boulette served in the Navy and later worked for the Naval Audit Service until his retirement, according to an obituary in the Portland Oregonian newspaper. After retiring in the mid-1990s, Boulette made Honolulu his home, but traveled extensively.
Neither Chapman nor his law firm represented Boulette in any court case prior to his death, court records show. However, Chapman handled many estates and trusts, and was the contact person in numerous probate proceedings, according to a review of published legal notices. The indictment does not indicate where or how Chapman accessed Boulette’s confidential personal information, and whether the information was taken from the firm’s own records.
On October 24, 2018, Chapman filed an application to be named personal representative and to proceed with informal probate of Boulette’s will and a codicil amending the will, court records show. Informal probate usually sidesteps court supervision, which would have been an advantage if the intent was to defraud Boulette’s estate. The indictment alleges either or both of the documents, the will and codicil, were fraudulently created or altered, but does not provide further specifics. Legal notices of Chapman’s application were published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on three consecutive Thursdays in November 2018.
The indictment alleges Chapman then used the fraudulent documents to gain control over Boulette’s accounts and property with a total value of close to $750,000 that Boulette had bequeathed to the Make a Wish Foundation, Elderhostel Inc., and the Portland State University Alumni Association.
The indictment does not identify the specific accounts or properties Chapman is alleged to have improperly controlled, although it reports their respective values.
However, real estate records show that at the time of Boulette’s death in late 2016, he owned a small 1 bedroom-1 bath apartment in the Nuuanu Brookside condominium. On May 29, 2020, two years after Chapman applied to serve as the personal representative of Boulette’s estate, the leasehold apartment was transferred from Boulette’s estate to a new entity, NuBrook LLC.
State business registration records show NuBrook LLC had been registered to do business just three weeks before it took title to Boulette’s interest in the Brookside condominium. Chapman was listed as NuBrook’s sole member and manager, and was registered at the address of Chapman’s law firm. Chapman signed the assignment of lease document as the personal representative of Boulette’s estate, and as manager of NuBrook LLC.
In May 2023, the apartment was sold to a private buyer for $395,000, real estate records show.
This appears to be the transaction corresponds to Count 22 of the indictment, which charges Chapman with first degree theft for allegedly diverting $362,566.13 from Boulette’s estate to his own benefit in 2023. The amount may represent the net selling price of the Nuuanu Brookside apartment after paying fees and costs of the sale.
The charges against Chapman appear to mirror those detailed in the 2022 case brought by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which ended Chapman’s legal career. In that case, which did not involve criminal charges, Chapman admitted to the misconduct.
ODC launched its investigation after receiving a complaint alleging Chapman had “wrongfully attempted to lay claim to approximately $2,000,000.00 in abandoned property held by the Hawai’i Department of Budget and Finance….”
The abandoned property belonged to a former client whose company he had represented in the 1980s. He had never met the client, and had not even had any indirect contact with her for three decades. After questions were raised about Chapman’s application to claim the property on behalf of the client, a handwriting analyst retained by the Attorney General’s office determined that a power of attorney Chapman used in an attempt to legitimate his claim was a forgery.
ODC completed its investigation and initiated formal disciplinary proceedings against Chapman in October 2022. A month later, Chapman submitted a legal declaration admitting the allegations were true and offering to resign in lieu of discipline while the charges against him were pending. ODC then filed a petition in open court asking the Hawaii Supreme Court to approve Chapman’s request, which made public its previously confidential 37-page petition for discipline spelling out the allegations and evidence.
The Supreme Court agreed, finding Chapman’s misconduct had entailed “egregious violations” of the court’s Rules of Professional Conduct. No criminal charges were filed in that case.
Two subsequent lawsuits were later filed against Chapman and his former firm by former clients alleging legal malpractice, breach of contract, and other offenses. Both ended with confidential settlements.
Also see:
“Fraud allegations lead to resignation of prominent business attorney,” iLind.net, December 29, 2022
“News media turn a blind eye to attorney misdeeds,” iLind.net, January 17 2023
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Thank you for bringing up these types of stories, Ian. Have you found any information on why Chapman would have done this? It’s often interesting to dig into the justifications provided by fraudsters. Sometimes it’s due to financial difficulties. Sometimes the person notices there were no consequences for prior bad behavior and then gets a bit more aggressive.
Character flaws always come back to bite us
I want to raise a concern that I believe is shared by others who care deeply about justice and fairness.
We must not lose sight of the principle that every person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty. While your reporting on Chapman’s indictment is accurate and sourced, the tone and detail come across as adjudication rather than reporting. It leaves the reader with little doubt that Chapman is guilty, even though he has yet to have his day in court.
We must also remember that an indictment is a one-sided presentation by prosecutors, and grand juries do not hear defenses. Using these documents as narrative fact, especially when tied to disciplinary proceedings or unrelated past conduct, risks blurring the line between accusation and conviction in the public eye.
Your work reaches and shapes opinion, and with that comes responsibility.
Thank you for making that clear.
Ask any CPA—they’ll tell you their clients who run pizza shops or delis often have more cash, less debt, and are doing better financially than the high-priced attorneys, dentists, and doctors. Funny how the ones in suits sometimes end up in cuffs.
Yup, that’s true. Long ago, before it became illegal for debt collectors to call a person’s place of employment, I would field calls from creditors at one of my very first jobs at a large law firm. Dumb, wet-behind-the-ears, I couldn’t fathom how anyone would/could carry a $5K balance on a specialty store credit card (not VISA or MasterCard). In today’s dollars that would be over $30K! It went on for a long time and as far as I recall, it never got paid off. No sooner would the balance go down, then the wife would go on another buying spree.
Attorney financial misconduct often comes from drug/alcohol addiction, mental disease, illness or drug addiction of a child or other family member, and living beyond their means. Some are good people who just get swept up in the stress and demands of the job. Others have character flaws. For some there is just never enough — money, women, men, fancy cars, fine dining, drugs, travel, high-life. Many are able to hide their misconduct because they are smart, charismatic (or intimidating), and know the ins and outs of the system well. They keep chasing then justifying, which inevitably leads to downfall. They are unable to be content.
Contentment is not easy to achieve. It’s amazing how many things we human beings think we need to be content, unnecessarily turning wants into needs. Paul the Apostle said: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13, New International Version
Amazing investigative work. Applaud!
Glaring is the circling of lawyer wagons around one of their own, who should be thrown into the court of public punishment.
This guy was charged with trying to steal someone’s property/money before, and was given a slap on the wrist. Of course he is going to try again, and again, who knows how many times he got away with it, how many clients of his he cheated? He needs to spend the rest of his life in jail.