Rep. Ing fined more than $15,000 for falsifying reports

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission fined state Rep. Kaniela Ing more than $15,000 Wednesday for filing 23 false reports detailing his campaign contributions and expenditures dating back to 2011, using campaign funds to cover personal expenses and other violations of Hawaii campaign spending laws.

The decision by the five-member commission concludes a two-year investigation by commission staff that included subpoenaing five years of Ing’s bank records.

The public still doesn’t know, however, how Ing spent more than $80,000 in campaign contributions that commission staff found went unreported from 2011-2016, or who made up nearly $29,000 in contributions to his campaign. Ing was given 120 days to correct his reports, which are made public on the commission’s website, with that information.

Ing told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that all the unreported expenditures were for campaign-related activities, such as mailers and radio ads, and that the reports would be amended to reflect that.

“These mistakes ultimately hurt me and didn’t work for my benefit,” he said, following the three-hour hearing in downtown Honolulu.

Ing said that all the reporting errors, as well as use of campaign funds for personal expenses, were inadvertent.

This case marks the sixth complaint filed against Ing, with the first dating back to 2012. He’s been fined a total of $800 for prior violations, according to information from the Campaign Spending Commission.

Commission staff said all of the reports that Ing filed from 2011-2016, a total of 23, were incorrect. For instance, between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2016, Ing publicly reported campaign contributions of approximately $23,000 and zero expenditures. But banking information obtained by commission staff showed that in fact $42,640.81 was deposited into Ing’s campaign accounts and $27,043.85 withdrawn during that time period.

Commission staff found that in total, Ing only reported about 38 percent of expenditures made from 2011-2016.

Ing was also found to have used campaign funds to cover $2,125 in rent payments for personal residences on Oahu and Maui, and another $219 to make a payment on the credit card of his domestic partner, Khara Jabola-Carolus. Ing subsequently reimbursed his campaign for those payments.

Ing, who represents south Maui, also deposited a campaign check worth $2,000 into his personal checking account — money that he never reported on his campaign spending reports. Commission staff indicated Wednesday that it appeared Ing used $1,000 of those funds to pay personal attorney fees related to a traffic violation, something commission staff already had advised him he could not do.

The $2,000 contribution also exceeded limits on campaign contributions from an individual and Ing was ordered Wednesday to return the funds.

Ing told commissioners that it was “confounding” how the check ended up in his personal account as it was written out to “Friends of Kaniela Ing,” and asked that the charge be dismissed. He noted that even though he was the one who made the deposit, the bank should not have allowed it.

“Mistakes happen, yeah, but to blame the teller is not that nice,” said Commission Chairman Bryan Luke, who is also the president and chief operating officer at Hawaii National Bank.

Ing, who is currently running for Congress, asked commissioners to lower the fines, noting that his state campaign accounts were nearly empty and he would therefore have to cover the costs personally. He said this would “devastate the financial future for my family.”

However, Ing’s latest report, filed with the commission on April 29, showed that he had $47,497 in funds. Commission staff noted that if Ing’s accounts were indeed depleted, that would mean his latest report was also wrong.

Kristin Izumi-Nitao, the executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission, also noted that a payment plan could be arranged, as had been done in other cases.

Ing avoided having the case referred for criminal prosecution, which was pushed for by Commissioner Gregory Shoda.

“In the past, we have had other cases where people have made maybe two incorrect reports and commissioners found flagrant violations of the law,” he said. “In this case, we have umpteen reports — none of which were correct.”

Shoda said that it would be unfair not to also refer Ing’s case for prosecution.

“The level or the number of violations is astounding basically,” said Shoda. “Every single report is incorrect.”

However, other commissioners were reluctant to go that far, noting the potentially fatal consequences for Ing’s political career.

This “prosecution could end this man’s career and there are not enough good politicians. There are not enough people willing to go into politics these days because it is so difficult,” said Commissioner Maryellen Markley.

Rep. Kaniela Ing response to complaint by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd

Summary of charges against Rep. Kaniela Ing by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd