Four executives of a Honolulu engineering firm are seeking legal representation by out-of-state attorneys ahead of their August trial on federal charges they conspired with former Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro to frame a former employee for felony theft in exchange for $45,000 in campaign contributions.
A federal grand jury on June 2 indicted Kaneshiro, 72; Dennis Mitsunaga, 78, president and CEO of Mitsunaga &Associates; Terri Ann Otani, 66, the company’s corporate secretary and office manager; Aaron Shunichi Fujii, 64, executive vice president and chief operating officer; and Chad Michael McDonald, 50, senior vice president.
Otani was arrested by FBI agents June 16, and Kaneshiro, Mitsunaga, McDonald and Fujii were taken into custody by the FBI June 17. They are charged with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, federal program bribery and conspiracy to violate rights.
The group allegedly conspired to charge former MAI employee Laurel Mau with four counts of felony theft after she filed a lawsuit in federal court in August 2012 alleging the company violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 by terminating her employment.
A federal judge eventually found no fault other than a “breach of loyalty” clause and awarded the company $1. A state judge threw out the theft charges in July 2017, noting a lack of evidence and that police declined to investigate the allegations. The charges cannot be refiled.
In October 2012, Mitsunaga met with Kaneshiro, whom he supported politically, “to attempt to persuade Kaneshiro to investigate and prosecute” Mau for allegedly getting paid for outside work on MAI’s time, according to federal court documents.
The federal program
bribery charge stems from “corruptly giving, offering and agreeing to give things of value to any person, with intent to influence and reward Kaneshiro,” who was a city employee during a period when the city received more than $10,000 a year in federal funds.
All were released on $50,000 bonds ahead of their Aug. 16 trial.
Kaneshiro swapped out the attorney who represented him during his initial appearance June 17, Myles Breiner, due to an undisclosed conflict and is now represented by Birney Bervar. Honolulu attorney Bruce Yoshida, who represented Mitsunaga at his initial appearance, was replaced by John Schum.
At a hearing in federal court Tuesday, Schum told U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter that he will file for a continuance in the case Friday while MAI executives secure defense attorneys from the mainland.
“It’s a unique situation. … All the defendants are working to obtain mainland counsel, and we appreciate the court’s willingness to work with them all,” Schum told the judge. He did not immediately reply to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for comment.
Reber Porter reminded all parties to be cognizant of upcoming dates and deadlines in the case.
“I hope that everyone has retained counsel and we can move forward with this case with the stuff that matters most,” the judge said.
Mitsunaga and his alleged co-conspirators are high-
profile political donors who contributed more than $830,000 to candidates for key state and county offices over a 10-year period.
Mitsunaga made $195,690 in campaign contributions between 2010 and 2020, and Otani gave $460,000 during that same period, according to state Campaign Spending Commission data. McDonald donated $123,000 and Fujii gave $60,050.
Since 2015, MAI has bid on and received more than $12.72 million in state contracts.
