Question: Whatever happened with the investigation of the November 2009 burglary at Aloha United Way in which someone broke into the charity’s office and stole about $128,000 in cash, checks and credit card receipts?

Answer: Police have not arrested any suspects and the case remains open, an Aloha United Way official said.

The theft took place sometime on Nov. 29 or 30, police said at the time.

Jody Shiroma Perreira, vice president of marketing and communications for the nonprofit, said the police department provides the agency with regular updates, but there are no known suspects yet. A detective working on the case could not be reached yesterday.

After the burglary at Aloha United Way’s offices in the Liliha area, officials notified the affected donors about the theft and the possible breach in confidential information, she said.

Since then, the charity has implemented additional security measures and protocol. Shiroma Perreira declined to disclose those new measures.

Shiroma Perreira said officials do not believe the break-in was committed by someone from within the organization because of evidence recovered by police. She said the donations had been in a safe.

She declined to give further details because the case is continuing.

Aloha United Way is the largest health and human services fundraiser in the state. The agency distributes money to about 100 partner organizations that deliver health and human services to the community through 600 individual programs. Those programs help people in such areas as crime and drug abuse, financial stability, homelessness and legal services.

In the past couple of years, donations have been flat, largely because of the economy, Shiroma Perreira said. She said it is difficult to tell whether the burglary scared away potential donors.

Aloha United Way is preparing for its next fundraising drive, the Pacesetter campaign, which begins at the end of this month. About 115 companies participate in raising donations, leading up to the full campaign in the fall when about 1,400 companies participate.

The goal is to raise $9.1 million this year, the same amount raised in each of the previous two years.

———

This update was written by Rob Shikina. You can write to us at Whatever Happened To …, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.