Accountant for nonprofit remains in OCCC, unable to post $3M bail

A woman accused of stealing more than $5.7 million from a nonprofit organization that serves children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities remains in custody at Oahu Community Correctional Center unable to post $3 million bail.

Lola Jean Amorin, 69, is charged with multiple counts of theft, using a computer to commit the theft and money laundering. She appeared at her arraignment on the charges Thursday by videoconference from OCCC.

Her lawyer Scott Collins pleaded not guilty on Amorin’s behalf. The computer crimes are the most serious of the charges and carry mandatory 20-year prison terms.

State Circuit Judge Colette Garibaldi confirmed Amorin’s bail at $3 million and scheduled her trial for Nov. 27.

The prosecutor said Amorin stole $5,777,147 from The Arc in Hawaii between December 2006 and March 2017 and spent the money on lavish vacations, gambling, cars, home renovations and the mortgages of at least four homes.

Collins said, “Our hearts go out to everyone involved in this matter.”

One of the homes Amorin is accused of spending stolen money on is in Laie, where Honolulu police arrested her Sept. 21. According to Honolulu property tax records, Amorin and her husband purchased the home in 2002 for $625,000. Since then the city has issued them permits for improvements worth nearly $100,000. The most recent permit was issued in 2014 for electrical work estimated at $53,550. The home has a current tax assessed value of $882,700.

The prosecutor said Amorin used stolen money to pay off the mortgages on two other homes on Oahu and one in Las Vegas.

Amorin worked more than 30 years for The Arc as a senior accountant. The prosecutor said the organization discovered the theft during an audit of its 2016 records.

The organization said it has implemented new procedures and financial controls that it believes will prevent similar crimes in the future.

Prosecutors say Amorin used two schemes to steal money from The Arc. One involved Hawaii Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co., or HEMIC, The Arc’s insurer. Instead of issuing checks to HEMIC, as indicated in the organization’s ledger, prosecutors said Amorin issued checks from The Arc’s First Hawaiian Bank account for cash, forged the signatures of the authorized signatories and converted the cash into cashier’s checks made payable to her credit union. Amorin allegedly deposited the cashier’s checks into her Hawaii Central Federal Credit Union account.

The second alleged scheme involved Amorin issuing checks drawn on The Arc’s bank account to her credit card companies and again forging the necessary signatures, according to prosecutors. Amorin wrote unauthorized checks to more than a dozen credit card issuers to pay off her credit card bills, they said.