Woman pleads guilty
to forgery and theft

She ran a counterfeit check
operation from a Waikiki hotel room

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

A 39-year-old woman involved in a variety of identity theft schemes pleaded guilty yesterday to four counts of second-degree forgery and one count of second-degree theft.

Lianne Nakaji was on supervised release for three other forgery and theft cases when police arrested her March 28 in a Waikiki hotel room running a counterfeit check operation, Deputy Prosecutor Leila Tanaka said.

Inside the hotel room, which had been paid for with three forged checks, police found an entire check counterfeiting kit, including computer software, a trimmer and a laminator, Tanaka said.

Circuit Judge Michael Town had allowed Nakaji to be released to attend a drug rehabilitation program, Tanaka said.

Nakaji pleaded guilty last Thursday to 11 counts of second-degree forgery and two counts of second-degree theft for crimes that happened between Oct. 26 and Nov. 27, 2000.

In one of those cases, she obtained a replacement driver's license using a birth certificate stolen in a burglary in Pacific Heights, Tanaka said.

In another incident, checks she forged were stolen from a car parked at a shopping mall.

Nakaji also admitted to using stolen identification to purchase jewelry.

Nakaji is associated with suspects in other forgery cases, according to Tanaka.

Tanaka will ask for an extended term of 10 years for the theft and forgery charges, which are Class C felonies and ordinarily carry a five-year penalty.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 13.