A conspirator altered the mechanism securing the mailbox of former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his deputy prosecutor wife so it could be easily removed, according to a new indictment against the Kealohas and four former members of the Honolulu Police Department’s elite Criminal Intelligence Unit.
A federal grand jury returned the new indictment Thursday. It includes the same charges that are alleged in an October 2017 indictment against the Kealohas and former CIU officers, which the new indictment replaces. It also accuses one of the former CIU officers, retired Maj. Gordon Shiraishi, of being more involved in the alleged mailbox theft frame-up than he was originally charged.
The new indictment does not name the conspirator who prepped the mailbox, the conspirator who removed and drove off with it or whether they are the same person.
Shiraishi was accused of lying to the federal grand jury that charged Katherine Kealoha’s uncle, Gerard Puana, with stealing the mailbox. The new indictment accuses him of lying to the grand jury that investigated the alleged frame-up and to the FBI.
As it now stands, both Kealohas, Shiraishi, Derek Wayne Hahn and Min-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen are charged with conspiring to frame Puana and lying to cover up their actions. Daniel Sellers is charged with lying to the grand jury and FBI. As part of the conspiracy, the new indictment accuses Katherine Kealoha, Nguyen and Sellers of illegally entering Puana’s home, searching it and seizing items after Puana was arrested for unlawfully entering a neighbor’s home.
Both Kealohas are also charged with multiple counts of bank fraud for allegedly submitting false documents and putting false information on loan applications. Some of the bank fraud charges accuse the Kealohas of claiming as their own and spending money that was supposed to be held in trust for two minors. Katherine Kealoha was the court-appointed guardian of the money.
One of the trust beneficiaries, Ranson Taito, pleaded guilty in January to conspiring with Kealoha to lie about what happened to his trust money. He said he lied and signed false documents at Kealoha’s direction because Kealoha told him that his mother got the money and would go to jail if he told the truth.
The new indictment contains Taito’s admissions and accuses Kealoha of sending a lawyer she had arranged to represent him some of the false documents to provide to the grand jury and FBI. The lawyer is not accused of committing any crimes.
Trial is scheduled for June. However, the court has yet to rule on requests from nearly all of the defendants to either separate some of the charges or hold separate trials.
The lawyers for Katherine Kealoha, Shiraishi and Sellers did not respond to requests for comment. The lawyer for Nguyen declined to comment. There are no new accusations against Louis Kealoha and Hahn.
Kealoha Indictment by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
