Lawyer for Mitsunaga’s business arrested by feds in California

The attorney for the founder of a Honolulu engineering organization accused of conspiring with the previous town prosecuting attorney to body an ex-worker for theft in trade for marketing campaign donations was arrested by federal agents in California on Tuesday.

Sheri Jean Tanaka, who represents Mitsunaga & Associates, or MAI, was named in a first superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday in federal court. Tanaka was “arrested in the Central District of California and is at this time in custody,” according to a motion to unseal the doc, filed by federal prosecutors.

Tanaka was certified in California and Hawaii and was MAI’s “legal consultant in administrative, civil, and criminal” matters, in accordance to the hottest indictment.

On Oct. 4, 2012, Tanaka and Dennis Mitsunaga satisfied with former Prosecuting Lawyer Keith Kaneshiro and Kaneshiro’s executive assistant to “try and persuade Kaneshiro to investigate and prosecute” Mitsunaga’s previous personnel.

She allegedly gave a letter outlining potential felony fees to Kaneshiro’s business on Jan. 22, 2013, two days before she joined Mitsunaga and Kaneshiro for lunch to focus on the investigation, in accordance to federal prosecutors.

Four days afterwards Tanaka sent an e mail to Kaneshiro’s assistant, expressing her enjoyment that she and Kaneshiro lunched with her and Mitsunaga despite their “hectic schedules.”

“I totally concur … it is remarkable how Mr. Kaneshiro and Mr. Mitsunaga are so considerably alike. They are both of those unbelievable men and women with so lots of achievements and are this sort of an inspiration to these close to them,” according to a portion of Tanaka’s electronic mail cited in the indictment.

On June 2, Mitsunaga, 78, was indicted by a federal grand jury with Kaneshiro, 72 and three some others on rates of conspiracy to dedicate trustworthy products and services fraud, federal program bribery and conspiracy to violate the legal rights of the previous MAI personnel.

The to start with superseding indictment, secured Thursday, was unsealed Tuesday, making it possible for federal agents to choose Tanaka into custody. Mitsu­naga is president and CEO of MAI and a longtime contributor to Hawaii political strategies.

Also charged in the first and superseding indictment are Terri Ann Otani, 66, MAI corporate secretary and workplace supervisor Aaron Shunichi Fujii, 64, MAI’s govt vice president and main running officer and Chad Michael McDonald, 50, MAI senior vice president.

Kaneshiro, Mitsunaga, Otani, Fujii and McDonald have pleaded not responsible and are free on $50,000 bond pending demo. All 5 entered not-guilty pleas to the very first superseding indictment, in accordance to federal court paperwork. Their pretrial launch was ongoing.

The scenario is staying managed by a unique prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat, and a team of federal prosecutors from San Diego. Wheat did not immediately answer to a Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser request for remark.

Their demo is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 21 in advance of Main U.S. District Decide J. Michael Seabright.

The allegations outlined in the June 2 indictment stem from MAI’s handling of previous personnel Laurel Mau, who sued the business just after she was permit go in November 2011 due to the fact they imagined she was operating aspect work. Mitsunaga and his workforce allegedly tried using to block Mau’s apps for unemployment rewards. After a year a Circuit Court docket judge ruled Mau was eligible to obtain the benefits.

In an August 2012 lawsuit, Mau accused MAI of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.

Next the Oct. 4, 2012, conference, Mitsunaga, Otani, Fujii and McDonald, Tanaka and other Mitsu­naga relatives customers and employees donated about $45,000 to Kaneshiro’s marketing campaign, according to the U.S. Office of Justice.

In July 2014 a federal decide overseeing Mau’s lawsuit and several counterclaims by MAI discovered no liability other than a “breach of loyalty” claim towards Mau for which she awarded the agency $1.

Kaneshiro prosecuted Mau for 4 counts of theft at the firm’s request in December 2014, in accordance to state court docket data. When one particular deputy prosecutor informed Kaneshiro that there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute Mau, Kaneshiro allegedly reassigned the case to another prosecutor, who charged Mau, in accordance to the federal courtroom files.

In July 2017 the costs versus Mau were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled. Kaneshiro served as town prosecutor from 1988 to 1996 and once again from 2010 to 2018 prior to he went on paid go away.