Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
The 45-year-old managing partner of local accounting firm PKF Pacific Hawaii will enter a plea in Circuit Court as early as Thursday on multiple counts of theft, forgery and money laundering for allegedly stealing $500,000 from his company over a three-year period.
Patrick Oki is free after posting $250,000 bail following his arrest at Honolulu Airport at 10:50 a.m. Sunday.
A grand jury indictment unsealed Monday charges Oki with 13 felony counts of first-degree theft, money laundering, use of a computer in commission of a separate crime, and second-degree forgery.
The prosecutor’s office said Oki perpetrated four fraudulent reimbursement schemes against PKF Pacific Hawaii LLP, which sustained losses of more than $500,000.
The indictment said the schemes occurred from Jan. 27, 2011, through Jan. 27, 2014.
On the strength of a grand jury bench warrant issued April 1, following a secret indictment, Oki was arrested by police and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he arrived on a flight from South Korea.
Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said Oki falsely claimed he had personally incurred expenses in connection with services provided to clients.
In furtherance of his schemes, Oki allegedly created fictitious people, companies, contracts, IRS forms, invoices, financial documents, websites and email addresses.
Oki also allegedly made false entries in the firm’s books, forged signatures of fictitious people and deceived his partners, who reported the matter to law enforcement after they discovered that the "expenses" Oki claimed were personal and not work-related.
If convicted of the computer charge, Oki faces a sentence of 20 years in prison with no possibility of probation.
PKF underwent a major restructuring last year after the departure of two partners and other key personnel.
"Honesty and integrity play vital roles in accounting because people rely on the information to make appropriate judgments," Kaneshiro said. "When a senior partner engages in fraud and deceptive practices, they not only threaten the consumers of their work, but the company they serve and every employee of that company. For that reason they will be prosecuted."
Oki, a certified fraud examiner, also serves as treasurer of Ahahui Koa Anuenue, the nonprofit fundraising arm of University of Hawaii athletics, and is a past president of the University of Hawaii Alumni Association. He was also an executive board member of the Boy Scouts of America Aloha Council.
"Over the weekend, we were surprised by the media reports concerning Patrick Oki," Brandt Farias, a spokesman for ‘Ahahui Koa Anuenue, said in a statement. "Mr. Oki does serve as an uncompensated, volunteer board member and treasurer for ‘Ahahui Koa Anuenue. In these capacities, Mr. Oki had no direct control or signing authority over any of our funds. From that standpoint, and regardless of outcome, no donor money was ever put at risk as a result of Mr. Oki’s involvement with AKA. We’d like to thank our donors for their past and future support. "
Last year Kaneshiro’s office prosecuted Mikio Sato, former chief financial officer of Prudential Locations. Currently the office is prosecuting Toni Ann Floerke, former chief executive officer of Certified Hawaii.
Oki’s arrest was the result of a yearlong investigation by HPD’s financial crimes detail. The case is being handled by Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Van Marter, head of the prosecutor’s white-collar crime unit.
76
HPD