Maui’s prosecuting attorney says the mayor was not the target of the state criminal investigation into allegations of fraud and financial mismanagement made public by the Maui police chief last week.

Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin released a detailed statement on Tuesday criticizing Chief John Pelletier and accusing him of bad police practices when he publicly named Mayor Richard Bissen as the subject of two criminal investigations, one by the Hawaiʻi Attorney General’s Office and one by the Maui Police Department.

“Law enforcement agencies do not publicly name the subjects of an investigation unless and until there is probable cause to support an arrest or a charge. This is a basic rule of investigative practice and professional ethics,” Martin said in a statement.

“Chief Pelletier violated this fundamental tenet of criminal investigations and told the public something that is simply not true,” he said.

Martin’s defense of the mayor Tuesday addressed only the AG’s investigation. The AG’s office won’t say whether an investigation is in the works and who or what it specifically entails. Pelletier declined to specify what the police investigation is about, only that it involves a felony and the mayor.

As for the investigation involving the AG, “Mayor Bissen was not its target,” Martin said. “Falsely naming someone as the target of a criminal investigation is bad enough, but coming from the head of a police department in service of a political fight, Chief Pelletier’s false statement was a betrayal of public trust.” 

Eric Seitz, Pelletier’s attorney, on Tuesday refused to back down on the issue of whether the mayor is being investigated by the AG’s office as part of a deeper look at allegations raised in a civil lawsuit by the mayor’s former chief of staff, Leo Caires, who has said he was wrongly terminated by the mayor after blowing the whistle on misuse of funds and questionable contract awards by county executives.

He said it would be unreasonable to think the mayor was not part of that inquiry.

“The allegations of that lawsuit are pretty serious,” he said. “The mere allegations that (Bissen) fired somebody, removed somebody, and then fired (Caires) because he didn’t want him to be raising complaints about issues that were pretty serious. That in and of itself would be of concern to me, especially if he’s the mayor.”

Commission Put Chief On Leave

Pelletier’s assertions regarding Bissen’s involvement in criminal investigations followed the Maui Police Commission putting the chief on paid leave while it conducted its own investigation into Pelletier’s oversight of a specialized criminal investigation. The top officer on that detail, Lt. Michael Vaituulala, was arrested and charged in August by federal prosecutors for taking bribes to protect chicken fighting and drug operations.

Pelletier contends the commission had no grounds to put him on leave and has asked that he be reinstated. The commission has so far refused that request, according to Seitz.

Martin said Tuesday that he knows Bissen is not being investigated by the AG’s office because his agency has been involved in the case from the beginning and in fact asked the AG to take it on.

He said his involvement in reviewing the claims made in the Caires lawsuit began in August 2024 when former county economic director Luana Mahi was accused of steering more than $1 million in county contracts to family members and other associates.

The county opened its own criminal investigation in January 2025 and brought in the AG’s office at that time and they agreed to work the case jointly, he said.

Whistleblower Had Filed Lawsuit

Caires, who was Bissen’s chief of staff from January 2023 to October 2024, gave the county plenty of warning that he was planning a wrongful termination action and the county in July 2025 approved hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for outside legal counsel to help defend the mayor and others if needed.

Caires filed the lawsuit in April 2026.

Martin said Tuesday he asked the AG’s investigators in March 2026 to take sole responsibility for any decisions regarding prosecution.

“I made that decision in part because of concerns that people within Maui County government would politicize this investigation. Unfortunately, the events of the past several days have shown that concern was justified,” he said.

Martin said his office has continued to provide law enforcement support to the investigation.

Pelletier said last week the Maui Police Department was asked to investigate the Caires allegations in July by Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee and opened a case of its own. But police soon found out the AG’s office was already involved and taking the lead. Lee told Civil Beat she was frustrated that no information on the Caires allegations was being shared with the council and brought in MPD to look at accusations of embezzlement against employees.

Bissen said last week he was not aware of any criminal investigations involving him. Martin didn’t say whether Bissen was in the loop on his investigation involving the AG. The county released records earlier this week showing the mayor was copied on Lee’s request to the Maui police for an investigation and the department’s responses to her.

As the feud between Pelletier and Bissen escalates, Maui police employees and community members held a rally Tuesday afternoon at Maui’s War Memorial Stadium in support of Pelletier. At the same time, Bissen and his supporters were sign-waving for his reelection campaign not too far away, according to a report on Hawaii News Now.

Bissen told Civil Beat on Tuesday evening that Martin has the most knowledge about the case being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office.

“Only the prosecutor knows which cases are under the investigation, as far as what they decide to charge and not charge,” he said.

He added, “I don’t know what the status is. I don’t know if they decided on charges, if they’re going to charge, if they’re not going to charge. I don’t know anything about that.”

Seitz said he has reached out to the Maui County Attorney’s Office in another effort to get someone from the county to sit down and talk about the situation with Pelletier and reinstatement. He said he has not gotten a response.

“Frankly, you don’t remove somebody from this high visibility position unless you have a basis for doing so,” he said. “And I’m not aware of any basis.”

Civil Beat reporter Erin Nolan contributed to this story from Maui.