Prosecutors discuss new charges in largest state bribery case

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Federal prosecutors on Thursday indicted the Hawaii businessman at the center of the state Capitol bribery scandal, alleging he also paid about $2 million in bribes to a former Maui official.

It is the largest bribery case in Hawaiian history.

Federal prosecutors charged Milton Choy, owner of H20 Process Systems, with a single count of bribery. They also accused former Maui sewer officer Stewart Stant of receiving bribes.

Officials hold a press conference to discuss the case.

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“Stant received hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial rewards and gifts … from Choy as bribes to secure exclusive supply contracts to H2O,” US Attorney for Hawaii Clare Connors said in a press release.

Choy is the businessman who paid bribes to disgraced former state senator J. Kalani English and ex-state congressman Ty Cullen, both of whom have pleaded guilty.

Choy’s attorney, Michael Green, said his client was cooperating with investigators.

“It’s never been a question since I was involved that he wasn’t willing to tell them everything he knew. And he did. As far as I can tell, he told them everything,” Green previously told HNN.

Choy was not charged for the bribes paid to Cullen and English. Sources have said that at the time of paying those bribes, he was working with federal investigators investigating corrupt state legislatures.

In the complaints released Thursday, federal investigators said Choy transacted “millions of dollars” in deals with Maui County in the form of no-bid contracts.

An analysis of Hawaii News Now’s procurement records shows that Choy’s firm has received more than 40 unsolicited contracts worth approximately $20 million since 2012.

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