Whatever
Happened...
Question: What ever happened to the investigation of the 1997 disappearance of thousands of dollars of evidence money from the main Kona police station? Kona police still missing
nearly $70,000 in cashBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comAnswer: A suspect was identified, and a police report was sent to the prosecutor's office in August 2000 for possible charges, said Capt. Robert Kaaua, who investigated the case. The statute of limitations runs out in 2003, he said.
In the past, the amount of money was said to be about $50,000, but a full accounting put the amount at $69,671.12, Kaaua said.
The money taken from the evidence room of the Kealakehe, North Kona, station in 1997 was mostly seized during a number of drug cases, Kaaua said.
During the multiyear investigation, the FBI and Internal Revenue Service provided assistance, but Hawaii County police remained the primary investigators, he said.
Kaaua identified the suspect only as "a county employee."
The captain declined to say why the investigation has taken so long.
However, he said the prosecutor's office made various requests for further police investigation after the case was turned over to them, which is a common practice when prosecutors have questions about whether the amount of evidence is sufficient.
Police have investigated the case as first-degree theft, but the choice of a charge would be up to the prosecutors.
Prosecutor Jay Kimura and First Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi were not available for comment.
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