Former Hawaii Official pleads guilty of embezzling AmeriCorps and offering a bribe in exchange for CARES Act grants | USAO-DC

WASHINGTON – Stacy Higa, 58, a former Hilo, Hawaii officer, pleaded guilty today to embezzling more than $ 38,000 from AmeriCorps and offering bribes for grants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to have.

The announcement was made by Channing D. Phillips, Acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Deborah Jeffrey, AmeriCorps Inspector General, and Steven Merrill, Special Agent in charge of the FBI’s Honolulu Office.

Higa pleaded guilty to one charge of embezzlement and bribery in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Both charges include legal limits of 10 years in prison and fines. Under state sentencing guidelines, Higa faces a prison term of between 46 and 57 months and a fine of up to $ 200,000. The plea agreement requires him to pay $ 38,642 in reimbursement to AmeriCorps and an identical amount in a forfeiture judgment. The Honorable Reggie B. Walton scheduled the sentencing on January 13, 2022.

“This defendant has admitted taking money from programs designed to help the most vulnerable Americans,” said acting US Attorney Phillips. “The United States Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute and try to hold those individuals who abuse their positions of power to get rich at the expense of the American people.”

“Stacy Higa has repeatedly betrayed his neighbors, the Hawaiian people and American taxpayers to serve his greed and vanity by misappropriating funds given to communities in need,” said AmeriCorps Inspector General Jeffrey. “The OIG will vigorously investigate allegations of fraud in AmeriCorps programs and will work tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice. I would like to thank the Honolulu FBI office for their partnership in conducting this investigation and the US Attorney’s Office in DC for overseeing the case. ”

“Our communities place great trust and responsibility in our public figures. Stacy Higa ultimately abused that trust when he used his power to embezzle federal funds and participate in bribery, ”said FBI Special Agent in Charge Merrill. “The FBI will not tolerate these crimes and will hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. Today’s admission of guilt is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to obtain justice. “

AmeriCorps is a federally funded network of national service programs that address critical community needs such as: AmeriCorps National Service members undertake to serve for a period of time, typically one year, in exchange for a living allowance, college grants, and other benefits.

From June 2011 through May 2020, Higa, a former Hawaii County Council member and candidate for mayor, served as the executive director of the Hawaii Commission for National and Community Service, the state service commission for administering AmeriCorps programs in Hawaii. As of February 2018, by stepping down from the commission, Higa embezzled more than $ 38,000 in AmeriCorps funds by signing and approving contracts and purchase orders between the Hawaiian Commission and two companies he owned or controlled, without his control over them Disclose company. Higa spent the misappropriated money on personal expenses, including paying approximately $ 20,000 for elective aesthetic dental care.

In his speech today, Higa also admitted running a program under the CARES Act, which went into effect in March 2020, to help individuals, businesses, states and communities suffering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to relieve financially. Among other aid programs, the CARES Act created a $ 150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to be distributed to states, communities, and tribal governments to support expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19. Government agencies that received funding from the CRF could use the funds, among other things, to provide grants to small businesses, to reimburse the cost of business interruptions caused by necessary closures, and to provide economic relief for those who suffer from work interruptions.

In that program, Higa admitted offering financial benefits to Hanalei Aipoalani, who was hired as CARES program administrator of the Department of Community Service of Honolulu’s Department of Community Service in August 2020. Aipoalani was responsible for managing CRF programs. From August 2020 to October 2020, Higa offered financial benefits to Aipoalani to influence the approval of Higa’s applications for two grants totaling $ 845,000 under the CARES Act. Higa then directed an employee to create and submit incorrect and backdated invoices as part of the scholarship. Higa and Aipoalani discussed opening LLCs on Oahu and using their wives as principals to launder the money. As part of its plea agreement, Higa admitted to anticipating a profit of at least $ 250,000 from the CARES bill.

Aipoalani, 42, of Waianae, Hawaii, separately confessed to the US District Court for the District of Columbia for embezzling AmeriCorps and taking bribes under CARES. Aipoalani was sentenced to 46 months in prison on June 30, 2021 and sentenced to pay over $ 532,730 in restitution to AmeriCorps.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to mobilize the Department of Justice’s resources in collaboration with government agencies to step up efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force supports efforts to identify and prosecute the most guilty national and international criminal actors and assists authorities tasked with managing fraud prevention aid programs, including by supplementing and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, resource identification and Techniques for detecting fraudulent actors and their systems, and sharing and using information and intelligence gained from previous enforcement efforts.

For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about suspected COVID-19-related fraud can report this by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at 866-720-5721 or using the NCDF web complaint form at: https: / /www.justice. Government / Disaster Fraud / NCDF Disaster Complaint Form

In addition, anyone known to be aware of fraud, waste, or abuse relating to AmeriCorps or any of its programs is encouraged to contact the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General hotline at 1-800-452-8210 or [email protected] .

In announcing the pleading, Acting US Attorney Phillips, Inspector General Jeffrey and the relevant Special Agent Merrill praised the work of those investigating the case from the Inspector General of AmeriCorps and the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office. They also recognized the efforts of those who worked on the District of Columbia District Attorney’s investigation, including U.S. Assistant Attorneys Peter Lallas and Amanda Vaughn, and Paralegal Mariela Andrade. Finally, they recognized the work of Assistant Attorney General Leslie A. Goemaat, also from the District of Columbia Attorney’s Office, who is pursuing the case.