FBI investigators met with a federal public defender Wednesday to discuss the strange case of Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha’s missing mailbox.

But neither attorney Alexander Silvert or an FBI spokesman would say any more about what sort of case might be in the works involving the chief and the Honolulu Police Department.

Silvert believes the chief and his prosecutor wife, Katherine Kealoha, were involved in a frame-up of his client.

“All I can say is that there was a meeting and I believe it was productive,” Silvert told Civil Beat. “Other than that I can’t comment further because it’s an FBI matter and I can’t speak for the FBI.”

Federal Public Defender Alexander Silvert speaks to media about his client Gerard Puana’s case being dismissed with prejudice. 16 dec 2014. photograph Cory Lum

First Assistant Federal Defender Alexander Silvert says his client was framed for stealing Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha’s mailbox.

FBI Special Agent Tom Simon said he could not comment on the meeting with Silvert or any possible follow-up action by the agency.

“The FBI cannot confirm the existence of an investigation unless or until charges are filed,” he said.

Kealoha’s mailbox was stolen in June 2013. He and his wife accused her uncle, Gerard Puana, of the theft.

But Puana’s attorney said it’s not his client who was caught on the Kealohas’ surveillance video.

Silvert also said Puana was set up as the fall guy to discredit him in a lawsuit he had filed against Katherine Kealoha that alleges she stole more than $200,000 from him and his 95-year-old mother.

The criminal case went to trial in December, but was thrown out after the chief inappropriately testified about Puana’s criminal past.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office then met with Silvert to discuss what evidence he had collected and subsequently asked for the case to be dismissed.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office then forwarded it to the FBI. Kealoha and his wife have been under intense scrutiny ever since.

You can watch surveillance videos of the mailbox theft here:

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