There are real life superheroes in Hawaii and pure forces of evil trying to stop them from bringing about justice.
Two of those superheroes, dubbed "Batman and Robin," are Dan Hanagami and Randy Lee -- a law enforcement duo that has teamed up to put away a number of high profile white-collar criminals in the state and is closing in on more.
Hanagami, a brilliant and ruthless police major with the Honolulu Police Department, and Lee, a courageous and methodical deputy prosecutor in charge of white-collar crime investigations for the Honolulu City Prosecutor, have traditionally been supported by their superiors. That includes the recently resigned police chief, Lee Donohue, and Honolulu City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle.
But that support fell away last week with the recent appointment of new Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa, a well-connected Democrat, employed by the Honolulu Police Department for more than three decades.
The first major move by Correa was to confidentially contact the prosecutor to tell him he is breaking up the "Batman and Robin" team -- ordering Hanagami to drop all investigations of politicians and their pundits (all Democrats) and to focus on technology-related crimes. There was no public announcement -- just a quiet killing of the alliance.
Correa’s decision comes in the midst of a massive investigation into the campaign and administration of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and reportedly on the brink of their case against high-ranking officials in his administration.
The ethical conflict Correa is being accused of by many in the law enforcement community -- he was appointed by police commissioners who were each in turn appointed by the very mayor who Hanagami and his fellow officers are investigating.
Prosecutor Peter Carlisle told Hawaii Reporter his department will find a way to continue the investigation into the Harris administration and campaign, no matter what the police department does. They may have to hire independent investigators to finish what Hanagami started, he says.
However, the announcement is devastating to those in Hawaii who want to see political corruption cleaned up and taxpayer money protected and who have understanding of what this superhero team has accomplished together with few physical resources, little staff support, but considerable brainpower.
State Campaign Spending Director Bob Watada says there is no way to replace Hanagami’s years of work and insight on the case. To attempt to do so would literally be like starting the investigation all over again -- an investigation, which has been going on for nearly 3 years, resulting in dozens of arrests and convictions and more than 1,000 fines.
Before Lee and Hanagami got together, the state was rife with political corruption. One by one, Hanagami and Lee have gone after white-collar criminals who have broken the law and committed serious political-related crimes, and put them behind bars.
Their prosecutions, simultaneous with a number of prosecutions by federal law enforcement of high-profile Hawaii politicians, and the investigations by Watada of the Campaign Spending Commission into political corruption, have seriously impacted the number of dirty politicians running or staying in office and committing crimes against the taxpayers.
To name a few of the Hanagami and Lee cases:
- In 1995, they investigated and convicted state Sen. James Aki, a powerful Democrat politician, for gambling and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
- In 1997, they investigated the Ewa Villages, Westloch, Middle Street, and City Housing project re-location and fraud scheme. This was the largest theft case against the City and County of Honolulu in the amount of $6.5 million stolen from the taxpayers. Twenty-nine suspects were arrested. The principal suspect, Michael Kahapea, a city's housing chief, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for multiple counts of theft in the first degree, RICO, Money Laundering, and Forgery II.
- In 1997, they investigated the Perfect Title Company, a Hawaiian sovereignty entity using land titles to claim homes owed by non-Hawaiian people, which resulted in two individuals convicted for theft and tax violation.
- In 1998, an internal fraud investigation of the Honolulu Police Department's Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent resulted in Theft I, and RICO charges for implementing a complex billing scheme to steal from the police and taxpayers. Another maintenance worker and two other private vendors were arrested as co-conspirators.
- In 2000, an internal theft first and forgery investigation concerning an extradition detective revealed he conducted unauthorized extradition utilizing family personnel disguising them as police officers, allowing them to gain travel tickets and per diem. Travel costs were also billed to the state when the detective billed for two officers, in actuality only one traveled. The detective would pocket the other airfare and per diem. The detective pled guilty to theft first and paid restitution in the amount of $32,000 to the Honolulu Police Department and state.
- In 2001, an internal investigation of a Honolulu Police Department assistant chief/major, a food service worker and a retired police internal affairs detective resulted in indictments against all for theft II. These officers ordered unauthorized food items (such as steak) that was supposed to be given to prisoners, and rather was consumed by fellow other police officers. The retired detective and food worker pled to the charges.
- In 2002, they busted City Council Member Rene Mansho, charging her with one count of first degree theft and one count of second degree theft. Mansho was in elected office for a decade before being arrested and imprisoned for 1 year for stealing from her campaign fund and for using her staff, city resources and city materials on work time to campaign for her re-election.
Lee also prosecuted Marsha Joyner for stealing several thousand dollars from elderly residents in Kon Tiki in Waikiki through her position as president of the condo association. Joyner is one of the highest-ranking members of the Hawaii Democratic Party who served as an electoral representative in two recent elections and was endorsed in her 2000 failed candidacy for state Senate by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.
But the biggest case by far of Hanagami and Lee involves the ongoing investigation into the campaign and administration of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris for a scheme that involves hundreds of people contributing to the mayor’s campaign in hopes of gaining favor from the city for contracting, permitting and zoning. Deemed "pay to play" by Campaign Spending Commission’s Bob Watada, who initiated the investigation through his office, said the scheme involves people giving campaign contributions or other in-kind gifts illegally by exceeding the legal limit or money laundering by using someone else’s name to make the contribution. Though the scheme has helped Harris raise more than $3 million, half of that, or $1.5 million, reportedly in illegal donations, according to state Campaign Spending records. Harris, of course, denies any knowledge or involvement in the "pay to play" scheme and says no such system exists.
Despite Harris’ denial, in the last three years, over 1,000 fines have been issued in the investigation by the state Campaign Spending Commission for illegal contributions, with the majority going to Harris’ campaign. The city prosecutor and police department have criminally charged, and in some cases secured convictions, for a number of related offenses.
Also behind the scenes in this brewing battle between the powers that want political corruption cleaned up and those who don’t because they are benefiting in some way -- the police union’s recent endorsement of former Honolulu City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro over incumbent Carlisle for re-election to that office.
This endorsement has outraged many Honolulu police officers who oppose Kaneshiro, who served two, 4-year terms as prosecutor and opted not to run for third term in 1996 because Kaneshiro is a defense attorney representing a number of alleged criminals accused of political corruption and other serious crimes.
Kaneshiro’s announcement to run for re-election came on the heels of a series of unsigned memos distributed to peers by city consultants under investigation by the state Campaign Spending Commission, who attacked sitting prosecutor Carlisle for supporting Deputy Lee’s investigation. The authors of these unsigned letters distributed just weeks before Kaneshiro filed papers for city prosecutor, claim they are targeting Carlisle in his next election for prosecutor and would get someone who supported them to run against him. Kaneshiro represents some of these consultants in court for the political corruption cases. Most recently, he represented Ernest Hirata of Ernest K. Hirata and Associates, who is under investigation by the state Campaign Spending Commission for campaign violations.
Kaneshiro also has endorsed David Arakawa, Carlisle’s opponent in the 1996 race for city prosecutor, who is the city corporation counsel and appointee of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris.
Political observers and key law enforcement maintain there is a massive, zealous effort under way to stop any investigation into political corruption in the state by the forces who don’t want to see dissipated the "pay to play" cycle of paying off politicians for favors. They maintain if Correa gets away with reassigning Hanagami exclusively to "technology" cases, and Kaneshiro is successfully elected as prosecutor, all investigation by local law enforcement into political corruption in Hawaii will halt and lead to even worse corruption and more theft from the taxpayers in the near future.
Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at: mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com
