REPORT FROM THE U.S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE –Amy P, Waikiki, 36, formerly of Maui, Hawaii, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court to 44 months in prison for embezzling approximately $163,744 from the Kulia Ohana Federal Credit Union in Wailuku, Maui from 2008 to 2009.
Waikiki pled guilty to both counts in an indictment charging her with embezzlement and a related offense. United States Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said that according to information produced in court Ms. Waikiki had stolen $163,744 from 34 credit union member accounts by making 224 unauthorized transactions.
Waikiki worked for the credit union as a teller from August 8, 2008, until June 25, 2009, when a Hawaii state court conviction on ten theft offenses occurring during her employment with an insurance company caused her termination from the credit union, which then discovered the embezzlement.
In imposing sentence, United States District Judge David A. Ezra noted that Waikiki had lied to her former employer, the insurance agency, about having cancer, and to the District Court’s Pretrial Services and Probation Officers by claiming to have a job on Maui when, in actuality, she was living in California without employment.
The Court also cited the fact that Waikiki had embezzled the money from the credit union while she was aware that she was being investigated by the insurance company for stealing $28,000 in insurance premiums from its clients, leaving many of them without insurance.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg.