The top federal law enforcer in Hawaii said Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s announced crackdown on those responsible for stealing billions in coronavirus relief funds is a priority for her as well.
Clare Connors, U.S. attorney for the District of Hawaii, called investigating and prosecuting pandemic fraud “an all-hands-on-deck effort.”
“I think everybody who heard the president’s speech (Tuesday) might have heard there’s going to be a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud,” said Connors, who was state attorney general before accepting the federal post. “That’s great, because any time we have billions of dollars in federal aid moving through our state and our local governments, you are going to have fraud.
“And it’s going to be important for all levels of government — state, federal and local — to prioritize looking at how that money’s being spent and doing our best to hold people accountable when they don’t spend it the way it’s intended to be spent.”
CNBC reported in December that almost $100 billion of COVID-19 relief funds was stolen. That includes millions in reported theft of unemployment insurance and pandemic unemployment assistance, or PUA, by identity thieves in Hawaii during the past two years.
PUA is a federally-funded program administered by the state Department of Labor for gig workers and independent contractors affected by COVID-19 shutdowns.
“The (unemployment insurance) and the PUA funds are ongoing concerns,” Connors said. “… I was publicly identified as a victim of that cyber-crime myself, so it was very widespread.”
While attorney general in June 2020, Connors said she was one of almost 6,000 Hawaii residents notified their identities had been stolen in a scam in which at least $15.8 million was paid out in bogus jobless benefits, plus another $76.6 million in payments identified as “potentially fraudulent.”
Connors’ office already was investigating the scam when she learned she was a victim.
In addition, Connors called the case of Stacy Higa, former Hawaii County Council chairman and former Na Leo TV CEO, “a great example” of the fraud targeted by Biden in his State of the Union Address.
The 58-year-old Higa, who was a mayoral candidate in 2020, was sentenced last month to 46 months in federal prison for offering a bribe in return for coronavirus relief funds, as well as embezzling $38,000 from AmeriCorps.
Higa’s co-conspirator, 43-year-old Hanalei Aipoalani, also was sentenced to federal prison for his role in the coronavirus relief scam.
Connors acknowledged an erosion of public trust by the corruption, but said people “should take heart” that graft is being uncovered and perpetrators prosecuted.
“The federal government, state government, local government, regulators, lawmakers — everybody’s concerned about integrity in government. And that’s a very positive thing,” she said. “… I know the Legislature’s working hard right now to get a myriad of policies enacted into law. And … I’ve observed some very important discussions happening about consolidating state law enforcement, creating special investigative prosecution units, possibly changing Hawaii laws to match some of the laws at the federal level.
“… Those are really important conversations to be having.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com,