Honolulu Hawaii Nonprofit Leader Pleads Guilty To Embezzling And Agreeing To Take A Bribe
A former Honolulu grant administrator has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 from a local nonprofit’s AmeriCorps program and conspiring with the CEO of Hawaii island’s public access TV station to fraudulently obtain CARES Act money from Honolulu.
Hanalei Aipoalani, a 42-year-old Waianae resident, former Aloha United Way vice president and former statehouse candidate, pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to embezzlement and agreeing to take a bribe.
Both charges carry a statutory maximum prison sentence of 10 years and financial penalties, according to federal prosecutors. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24.
AmeriCorps is a federally funded network of national service programs.
“The defendant conspired to enrich himself with taxpayer dollars intended to support at-risk communities in Hawaii, he victimized legitimate volunteers and others by stealing their identities to perpetrate multiple fraud schemes, and he submitted falsified documentation and certifications to the government, all to the detriment of their community,” Deborah Jeffrey, Inspector General of AmeriCorps, said in a press release.
Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/03/hawaii-nonprofit-leader-pleads-guilty-to-embezzling-and-agreeing-to-take-a-bribe/