Kenoi booked on theft charges

Mayor Billy Kenoi turned himself in to police for booking on theft charges late this morning.

According to a Hawaii Police Department spokeswoman, Kenoi was arrested at the Pahoa police station at 11 a.m. and was charged with two counts each of second- and third-degree theft, three counts of tampering with public records, plus a single count of making a false statement under oath.

The 47-year-old mayor was booked under the name “William P. Kenoi” and his hometown was listed as Hilo.

Kenoi was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Hilo Circuit Court.

Kenoi was indicted by a Hilo grand jury on March 23. The charges stem from his alleged misuse of a county credit card known as a pCard.

The attorney general’s office began investigating Kenoi’s pCard use in April 2015 after Big Island newspapers reported Kenoi had used his pCard at a Honolulu hostess bar.

The mayor racked up nearly $130,000 in charges on the card by then, including $892 at hostess bar Club Evergreen, $1,219.69 for a surfboard, and a $700 tab at a Hilo karaoke bar. He also spent $400 at another Honolulu hostess bar, the Camelot Restaurant and Lounge.

Kenoi reimbursed the county for $22,292 in charges between January 2009 and March 2015. He later paid back approximately $9,500 more.

The most severe charge Kenoi faces, second-degree theft, is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.