Former official pleads guilty
in alleged airport scheme

A former inspector admits to abuse
of state procurement law

---

By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A former supervising inspector in maintenance at Honolulu Airport pleaded guilty yesterday to being an accomplice to first-degree theft in an alleged multimillion-dollar kickback scheme involving small-purchase maintenance contracts.

Harry H. Shibuya, 61, who retired Oct. 1, is the first to plead in the ongoing investigation into abuse of state procurement laws at the airport. Ten others, some of them Shibuya's superiors and contractors who were awarded contracts during fiscal years 1999 and 2000, have been arrested since June, but no formal charges have been filed yet.

The scheme is believed to be one of the largest thefts of taxpayers' money in state history -- surpassing that of the $5.5 million lost in the city's Ewa Villages relocation fraud.

Shibuya waived indictment and is expected to cooperate with state and federal law enforcement officials in their continuing investigation. State prosecutors expect more arrests and others to also plead.

Deputy Attorney General Larry Goya said that under state procurement laws, any work or services up to $25,000 requires the airport -- which comes under the state Department of Transportation -- to contact three businesses and select the lowest bid.

However, under instructions by his superiors, Shibuya called only one contractor who was essentially awarded the job with the understanding that the contractor would be responsible for getting two other contractors -- usually friends and associates -- to fulfill the requisite three bids, Goya said.

Also, part of Shibuya's responsibility was to inspect jobs as they progressed, and he rarely did that, Goya said.

Shibuya is expected to turn himself in within the next 30 days to be formally processed.

His attorney James Koshiba could not be reached for comment.