Former Honolulu managing director Roy Amemiya says he had nothing to do with Louis Kealoha’s $250,000 settlement

Honolulu’s former managing director says he had nothing to do with the $250,000 settlement with former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and is still seeking information about the U.S. Department of Justice’s allegations that prompted investigators to subpoena him to testify before a federal grand jury, then make him a formal target of their investigation.

Roy Amemiya is “frustrated and extremely disappointed to have received both subject and target letters,” his attorney, Lyle S. Hosoda, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“He explained very clearly to the two FBI agents that interviewed him on July 8, 2020, that he was not involved in any way with the payout that the Honolulu Police Commission approved for former Police Chief Kealoha. At the conclusion of that interview, which my client describes as cordial, he was handed a subject letter and a subpoena to appear before a Federal Grand Jury, which he did,” Hosoda said in a written statement.

“No information was provided in that subject letter, or a subsequent target letter about what is being investigated or what information is being sought from Mr. Amemiya. On behalf of my client, I made multiple requests to the Government prosecutor for information on the reasons he issued these letters.”

Only recently did Assistant U.S. Attorney Micheal G. Wheat verbally acknowledged that he is interested in Amemiya’s role in the $250,000 payment to the former police chief.

“My client was not involved before, during or in the aftermath of the separation agreement. In fact, my client was not aware that the HPC (Honolulu Police Commission) was working on such an agreement until after it was completed,” said Hosoda. “Mr. Amemiya contends that it was an honor and privilege to serve the people of Honolulu as the City Managing Director. While he has always believed and trusted in the justice system, this situation is difficult to comprehend.”

Wheat, who has served as a special attorney for the U.S. attorney general prosecuting interdistrict conflict cases in Hawaii and Arizona since 2012, declined comment through a spokeswoman, Kelly Thornton.

Thornton, director of media relations for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California, did not respond to a question about whether the grand jury plans to hand down more indictments. Federal grand juries may be convened in 12-month intervals and the current collection of jurists will be released at the end of August.

Amemiya is just one of many former and current government officials and business people who are answering questions from Wheat’s team of prosecutors. They are investigating allegations that law enforcement officers, elected officials and their supporters abused their positions to vanquish opponents.

Amemiya, who served as the city’s managing director under former Mayor Kirk Caldwell, received a federal target letter in June.

He is the highest official in city government under the Caldwell administration to be named as a target of the federal investigation. City Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, the city’s civilian attorney, was put on paid leave in January 2019 after she got a target letter in connection with Wheat’s investigation.

Max Sword, former chairman of the Police Commission that approved the settlement, allegedly told the grand jury that neither Amemiya nor Caldwell participated in the settlement process, according to sources involved with the investigation.

William C. McCorriston, Sword’s attorney, declined comment.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice manual, a recipient of a target letter “is a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime.” A subject letter is sent to a person “whose conduct is within the scope of the grand jury’s investigation,” the manual says. It implies that prosecutors do not have sufficient evidence to connect the subject to a crime, but want to obtain more information.

Leong, the city’s former corporation counsel, received a target letter from federal authorities in January 2019.

At the time, Caldwell told the news media that Leong’s target letter involved her role in the agreement between Kealoha and the Honolulu Police Commission that allowed the department’s 10th chief to retire with benefits, including a $250,000 payout.