The former Honolulu businessman now has three pending federal cases.

Changes are coming for how those cases are handled going forward as a new law allows the commission to assess fines and refer a case to prosecutors concurrently.

It’s not yet clear if more county officials could be charged as part of an ongoing federal investigation into bribery and public corruption.

It’s the latest development in a public corruption scandal involving wastewater contracts in Maui County.

A jury found Local 1260’s former business manager and his wife guilty of all charges.

The Kealohas owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to their victims.

The Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct says the grants will beef up bare-bones budgets that now exist in all counties except Honolulu, which spends more on its ethics board.

But some policy advocates opposed the new measures because of mandatory minimum prison sentences.

An appeals court found no reason to reverse the ex-officers’ convictions or sentences.

New proposals regarding government ethics and conflicts of interest will be taken up by the Legislature in the wake of corruption scandals involving former lawmakers.

The case against Wayne Inouye is part of a broader scandal that began with indictments against him and four other DPP employees last year.

The former union leader’s defense attorney alleged his client was the victim of a conspiracy to unseat him.

A trial is scheduled for March 21 in federal court.

The trial of Brian Ahakuelo, accused of leading a conspiracy to line his pockets while head of IBEW Local 1260, begins Thursday.

The panel also forwarded a bill on legislative meetings but will take more time to examine proposals on public records, meetings and a state voters guide.

Wayne Inouye will appear in court later this month to change his plea to guilty.

Two measures that were vetoed by Gov. David Ige are among the proposals the panel plans to take up this week in its effort to restore public trust.

The hearing came about three weeks after Martin Kao admitted to obtaining more than $12.8 million in pandemic relief loans under false pretenses in a separate case.

Both men admitted in court that they conspired to funnel lucrative contracts to one of Choy’s companies.

The contracts that were the target of an FBI investigation were awarded under former Mayor Alan Arakawa’s administration.

The county’s former environmental management director was also indicted for accepting more than $2 million in bribes to steer contracts to Choy’s company.

Sheri Jean Tanaka, who was arrested in California, is the sixth defendant indicted in the case centered on former Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.

Calling it a gross abuse of trust, the judge also weighed evidence showing that Puana has gotten sober and is unlikely to reoffend.

A hearing will be held later to determine whether Kealoha can appeal her conviction.

Martin Kao used false information to obtain millions from the Paycheck Protection Program.

The former Honolulu deputy prosecutor is trying to appeal her 2019 conviction for conspiracy and obstruction of justice. 

H2O Process Systems was awarded millions of dollars in sole source contracts for upgrades and replacement parts for Maui County’s wastewater system.

In a bribery scandal that nabbed government workers, federal prosecutors have obscured the identities of those on the other end of the transaction. 

No one has been charged yet, but the DOT said it has already made changes to prevent future wrongdoing. 

Alan Scott Rudo pleaded guilty to conspiring to accept kickbacks in three separate schemes.

Calls for harsher mandatory sentences for state and county officials follow a string of high-profile corruption cases prosecuted by the federal government.

The former Senate majority leader must report to prison on Aug. 16 and was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.

But defense attorneys for former Sen. J. Kalani English are asking for a lighter sentence of 30 months.

The proposals come in the wake of high-profile bribery charges against elected officials.

The judge said he wanted to make an example of Jennie Javonillo to deter other government workers from taking bribes.

Any changes would have to be approved by lawmakers, but Democrats running for governor say they are serious about the issue.

UPDATE: Honolulu’s former prosecuting attorney, a prominent businessman and other defendants pleaded not guilty Friday afternoon.

The former Honolulu prosecuting attorney has long been a target of the FBI in connection with a yearslong investigation into police corruption.

Former Rep. Ty Cullen has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes when he was a state lawmaker.

Despite pleading guilty to a job-related felony, William Wong was able to renew his license for another two years.

The Legislature made some progress this year in increasing government transparency, but leading politicians say there is still much more work to be done.

Testimony in the federal trial of Katherine Kealoha’s brother Rudolph Puana has focused on allegations that the anesthesiologist was running a prescription drug ring.

Kealoha’s brother, Rudolph Puana, is on trial for allegedly writing opioid prescriptions for his friends to either sell or trade for cocaine.

Banning campaign cash during session is not going to stop special interests from trying to influence elected officials.

Defendants will try to get their charges dismissed at a hearing tomorrow.