A veteran lobbyist and animal advocate pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges that she allegedly used a Wisconsin veterinarian’s identity to import large quantities of opioids for a mobile clinic run by her nonprofit organization.
Alicia Chan Maluafiti of Ewa Beach was indicted by a federal grand jury Feb. 16 on 27 counts of using a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration issued to the mainland veterinarian to obtain and distribute the controlled substances starting Nov. 14, 2018, and continuing until Feb. 12, 2020, according to the indictment. She is free on a $25,000 unsecured bond ahead of her April 24 trial in U.S. District Court.
Maluafiti is founder and owner of Poi Dogs & Popoki, an Ewa Beach nonprofit dedicated to “end the euthanasia of animals” by promoting spaying, neutering and responsible foster care and adoption. The organization’s 19th Puka Charity Golf Tournament in 2021 counted Hawaii business and political leaders among the donors willing to pay $1,000 to sponsor four players in the event held at the Hoakalei Country Club.
Maluafiti, who is not a veterinarian and does not have a DEA license, allegedly obtained the drugs to treat animals. The indictment listed the drugs as buprenorphine, used to treat opioid abuse disorder and chronic pain; the anesthetic ketamine; butorphanol, a morphine-like pain reliever; and the sedative pentobarbital.
Maluafiti told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a statement that she spent more than 30 years rescuing animals on her own time and at her own expense to “ensure a better life for stray, abused, neglected and feral animals.”
“It was with great sadness and surprise to learn that the US District Attorney’s office holds me personally responsible for the ordering of controlled substances used for the spay and neuter of dogs and cats through PDP’s mobile clinic, the Big Fix, in 2018 and 2019,” Maluafiti said. “The veterinarian at that time authorized the staff to order these surgical drugs under his license. We have since learned that this vet was also under investigation in another state for authorizing other small nonprofits to operate under his license.”
Maluafiti said she “hired people to direct the day-to-day operations of the clinic, manage the staff, and coordinate policies and protocols to ensure positive health outcomes.”
The veterinarian, who is not named in the indictment, directed the operations of the clinic, and that “includes ordering supplies,” she said in her statement.
“I trusted others and I trusted the veterinarian in question. Perhaps I was naive to expect everyone who worked with PDP to have the best interest of the organization and their colleagues at heart. But being naive and trusting others should not be a crime.”
The veterinarian allegedly told federal agents that Maluafiti did not have his permission to order the drugs and he was unaware of the use of his DEA license until a drug supplier called him to confirm a shipment of opioids to Maluafiti.
Maluafiti’s attorney, Megan Kau, declined to comment on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib, who is prosecuting the case for the government, did not immediately reply to a Star-Advertiser request for comment.
In June 2005, Maluafiti founded Loihi Communications, a community and government relations firm. In 2018 she ran for a seat in the state Senate, finishing second in the Democratic primary.
According to Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission records, Maluafiti donated about $60,000 through 240 contributions to the campaigns of county council members, state legislators, three mayors and two governors between 2007 and 2020.
She was member of the state Board of Veterinary Examiners, representing the public, until last June.
“Ms. Maluafiti has been a member of the Board of Veterinary Examiners since April 2016 and her extensive experience in animal rescue combined with her genuine care and passion for animals continues to be an asset to the Board,” wrote then-state Sen. Roz Baker, who in 2018 was chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health, in a message renominating Maluafiti.
Over nearly two decades as a lobbyist, Maluafiti represented an array of private businesses, nonprofits and government entities, including Syngenta, the Honolulu Board of Realtors, the Ala Moana Building Tenants Association and the National Elevator Industry, the Boys and Girls Club Hawaii, the Hawaii Medical Service Association, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, according to a resume posted online with her nomination to the state veterinary board.
Maluafiti is also the founder and former president of the Oahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and a former director of community relations at the Hawaiian Humane Society.
