An Oahu grand jury returned twelve counts, announced on July 25. The lead defendant is the sitting Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii.
Sylvia Luke is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and falsifying election documents, with bail set at $80,000 [1].
Charged alongside her: former Department of Human Services director Ryan Yamane, Department of Transportation airports administrator Ford Fuchigami, former Public Utilities Commission chair Leo Asuncion Jr., and lobbyist Tobi Solidum. Solidum faces a no-bail warrant and is reported to have left for the Philippines [1].
The allegation is specific enough to check. Prosecutors say Solidum funnelled campaign donations and cash to secure legislative support for a $54 million COVID-19 testing programme run through the National Kidney Foundation of Hawai'i. The itemised amounts: $10,000 in checks to Luke, $7,000 to Fuchigami [1].
Set those beside each other, because the ratio is the story. Seventeen thousand dollars in itemised payments appears in an indictment about a fifty-four-million-dollar programme - roughly three ten-thousandths, if the allegation is proved.
That is what makes this kind of case worth reporting carefully rather than loudly. The sums that allegedly move are almost always small, which is exactly why they are hard to notice.
An indictment is an allegation and nothing here is proved. What is documented is that a sitting lieutenant governor, a sitting airports administrator and a lobbyist now outside the country have been charged over pandemic money.
