Maui Mayor Mike Victorino has ordered an audit into all “no-bid” contracts awarded to companies controlled by Milton Choy, who is facing felony charges for allegedly bribing a former county official in exchange for more than $19 million in work between 2012 and 2018.

In a statement, Victorino said he condemns public corruption and that his administration will cooperate with law enforcement.

“Whenever corruption undermines the public trust, those responsible must be investigated, prosecuted, and punished to the fullest extent of the law. I cannot, and I will not, tolerate such betrayals of public trust,” Victorino said in the statement.

Victorino also took the opportunity to clarify that the events laid out by federal prosecutors Thursday — describing a scheme between Choy and former Environmental Management Director Stewart Stant to funnel contracts to Choy’s companies — occurred under a different administration.

Between 2012 and 2018, Choy gave Stant $2 million worth of bribes in exchange for upwards of $19 million in sole source contracts. Former Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa was in charge of the county for most of that time period.

Sole source contract awards to Choy’s company, H2O Process Systems, dropped off dramatically after 2018. The last sole source contract awarded to H2O Process Systems came in December 2021 for pump assembly parts for a Kihei pump station.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation and the Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation.