Bribery Charges: Sylvia Luke, Ex-State Rep And Others Indicted In Corruption Case
The case was a devastating blow to the Hawaiʻi lieutenant governor’s long political career.
This story is unfolding. Check back for updates.
A grand jury indicted Hawaiʻi Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, as well as ex-State Rep. Ryan Yamane, local businessman Tobi Solidum and other individuals on Friday — accusing one of the state’s highest ranking public officials of corruption.
The indictments are as follows:
- Sylvia Luke: criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery by a public servant and falsifying candidate committee reports
- Ryan Yamane criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery
- Tobi Solidum: conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of bribery upon a public servant
- Ford Fuchigami: criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, use of false statements or entries and obstruction of justice
- Leo Asunción: falsifying candidate committee reports, use of false statements or entries and obstruction of justice
The felony indictments dropped Friday afternoon as part of the Attorney General’s investigation into an “influential” lawmaker who took $35,000 from a federal bribery suspect in 2022 — a mystery that has gripped the state for more than a year. It represents another monumental moment in a yearslong political scandal that already landed two of Luke’s former colleagues in prison.
The written indictment makes no direct reference to $35,000 being handed over but suggests Solidum, a businessman seeking government money for Covid testing, promised Luke $35,000 — part of a longterm total of $70,000 — at a Jan. 20, 2022 dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse. They discussed union support for her campaign, the indictment says.
“By next week we’ll have 35 — so it will be halfway to our 70,” Solidum told Luke, according to the indictment.
Meanwhile, Yamane is alleged to have taken thousands from Solidum while working to secure funds for Solidum’s Covid testing contracts.
“If we’re looking at the most culpable individual factually, we believe that is Ryan Yamane,” Deputy Attorney General David Van Acker said.
Prosecutors didn’t immediately share the facts of the case that led to the indictments but more information is expected to emerge Friday afternoon when Attorney General Anne Lopez is expected to speak.
It is a stunning fall from grace for Luke who, before becoming lieutenant governor, served as a state representative for more than two decades, including 10 years as chair of the House Finance Committee. As finance chair, Luke oversaw the state budget with an iron fist and was known for her commitment to following the rules and holding others accountable.
The charges stem from a document, first revealed publicly by Civil Beat last year, that exposed the $35,000 transaction. And they come after intense public pressure on Attorney General Anne Lopez to open a probe. Lopez initially said she would not investigate because the case was in the federal government’s hands, but she switched course in January.
Since then, Gov. Josh Green has urged Lopez to wrap the matter up quickly. Green also tried to distance himself from Luke, and in February canceled a pre-planned trip to Washington, D.C. to avoid leaving the state in Luke’s hands.
Van Acker asked the court to set bail at $100,000 for Luke, based on the severity of the allegations while recognizing she is not a flight risk.
Yamane was Green’s director of the Department of Human Services until recently. He suddenly resigned as the state investigation seemed to close in on him.
Solidum is a local businessman, lobbyist and longtime consultant to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaiʻi. In that role, he helped arrange tens of millions of dollars in Covid testing contracts during the pandemic, including for a mobile test site at the Honolulu airport. Court records show Solidum consulting business was paid more than $7 million for that Covid testing work, which overcharged the state for tests, and an entity tied to his stepdaughter, Kristen Pae, received a $1 million dividend.
Deputy Attorney General David Van Acker, who is prosecuting the case, asked Judge Ronald Johnson for a warrant for Solidum’s arrest without bail. He said prosecutors have evidence he left the country in 2025 and lives in the Philippines. Solidum divested himself of his real estate holdings, the prosecutor said, and moved substantial funds offshore.
Asunción is a former chair of Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission, a position from which he abruptly resigned last year. He was also Luke’s campaign treasurer.
Fuchigami was appointed Gov. Green in 2023 to be deputy director of the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation airports division and is currently the airports administrator.
From 2019 to sometime in 2021, Fuchigami held roles in the DOT that gave him oversight of the distribution of Covid relief funds and contracts. Later, he worked for the state Senate as budget chief to Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, the chairman of the Senate money committee that oversees the annual budget. Fuchigami is a longtime government aide, including to Gov. David Ige.
An ‘Influential Lawmaker’
The case is an extension of a prior federal bribery probe involving former Rep. Ty Cullen, Luke’s former vice chair on the House Finance Committee. Cullen was arrested by federal officials for bribery in October 2021 and immediately became an asset of the FBI, recording meetings and sharing information.
As part of that cooperation, Cullen recorded the interaction with another federal bribery suspect and the “influential” lawmaker in which the suspect gave the lawmaker $35,000 for a campaign. This Jan. 20, 2022 interaction was described in a court record related to Cullen’s sentencing, but it did not name those involved. Since the details were reported last year, government accountability advocates have been calling for transparency and accountability for those individuals.
Luke, who is currently on an unpaid leave of absence, became embroiled in the scandal in February when she revealed that she attended a dinner in January 2022 with Cullen and two other people: lobbyist and businessman Solidum and his stepdaughter, Kristen Pae.
Luke said she accepted two $5,000 checks from Solidum and Pae — which would have been legal – but denied ever accepting $35,000, which is too large to be a legal contribution or gift from an individual. She also failed to report the $10,000 in contributions as required until years later when Civil Beat asked about them.
She said she tried to return them after Cullen was arrested because she was “uncomfortable” keeping the money, but one of the returned $5,000 checks was never cashed. She said she issued a $5,000 check to the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission in lieu of the refund.
Luke has since admitted to numerous campaign finance errors, and the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission identified many more.
Grand Jury Convenes
On Friday morning, high-profile witnesses filed into the grand jury room with their attorneys.
Cullen, who was released from federal prison in 2024 after serving 11 months on bribery charges, arrived early before the courthouse even opened, with his attorney Birney Bervar. He said nothing has he left the grand jury room.
Other witnesses included Tony Baldomero, a former staff member at the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission; Pae, accompanied by heavy-hitter defense attorney Tommy Otake; and Cathy Ross of the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, represented by attorney Eric Seitz.
Ross is a former deputy health director whose division oversaw an office that handled procurement and contracts. As of February, Ross was still employed by the state as a human resource specialist, according to salary data.
Ross and Seitz left the courtroom just after 11 a.m. Friday and declined to comment.
The health department granted millions of dollars in Covid testing contracts to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaiʻi, and the City and County of Honolulu similarly awarded millions in contracts to the foundation to help prop up mobile testing labs. Those contracts were arranged by Solidum, who is the suspected giver of the $35,000. Solidum also received a target letter in the AG’s probe.
The kidney nonprofit, in turn, sold overpriced Covid tests to Hawaiʻi residents — up to $166 per test. The national median price for a test at the time was $62 for insured patients, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, an online tool that monitors health care data.
Solidum has not responded to Civil Beat’s multiple attempts to reach him.
Over the course of the Kidney Foundation’s testing program, Solidum’s company, GeoPolicy Development Group, earned more than $7 million in consulting fees paid by the foundation’s for-profit subcontractor, Capture Diagnostics. An entity tied to Solidum also got a $1 million dividend for investing in Capture Diagnostics, according to court records. Soon after, trusted linked to his stepdaughter purchased million-dollar properties in Kakaʻako and Kāneʻohe.
Cullen served 11 months in federal prison for accepting bribes from businessman Milton Choy. Former Senate Majority Leader Kalani English, who also pleaded guilty to taking bribes from Choy, served 19 months.
