Con artist gets 10 years
in scams dating to 1992

A Waianae woman duped friends,
family and acquaintances

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

There was the elderly woman who needed to bail her son out of jail. There was the grandmother who wanted to put on her granddaughter's first luau.

They were among the acquaintances of Mabel Maria -- also known as Sister Elena, a k a Mama Elena, of Waianae -- who needed help.

So when Maria promised to get the woman's son out of jail and take care of details for the baby luau, they willingly parted with thousands of dollars.

But Maria kept the money.

Circuit Judge Michael Town sentenced Maria, 51, to 10 years in prison yesterday for five counts of second-degree theft and two counts of money laundering.

In 1984 she was convicted in a "container scam" and sentenced to five years in prison. Maria had solicited about $5 million from friends and relatives as early as 1979 to invest in cargo containers that she claimed contained surplus federal goods. The containers did not exist. When the scam was stopped in 1981, police seized more than 60 cars, motorcycles, trucks, jewelry and furnishings Maria had bought with the investors' money.

Authorities say she continued scamming friends, relatives and other acquaintances after leaving prison.

Maria had pleaded guilty last year to seven separate theft cases that go back to 1992 and was sentenced yesterday on five of them. She will be sentenced in the two remaining cases in April.

Honolulu police Detective Jill Kaui persuaded victims too humiliated to admit they had been duped to press charges in the recent cases. "I've never seen one person destroy so many lives in such a short time," Kaui said. "Not only did she take their money, she humiliated them before their friends and family."

Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee had asked that Maria be sentenced to an extended term of 20 years in prison to protect the Waianae community from her "evil." She apparently spent the money she stole on trips to Las Vegas and to benefit her and her family.

Deputy Public Defender Walter Rodby said she tried to help individuals but ended up losing their money. "She doesn't blame anybody but herself," Rodby said.

He said Maria is willing to make restitution as she had done in a theft case in 1995, but that her ability to pay the victims back would be severely limited if she had to spend 20 years in prison.

"We're talking about substantial amounts of money," Rodby said.

The Rev. Ropati Tiatia, of the First Samoan Church in Waianae, said Maria promised to give $6 million to the church if it paid the taxes and attorney's fees on an inheritance she said she had received.

She even showed him a blown-up check, similar to the ones Publisher's Clearinghouse delivers to its winners, made out for $6 million, but in the name of a well-respected minister also in Waianae. She told Tiatia she would reissue the check in his name.

"Stupid as I was, I believed in her," he told the court.

Tiatia finally reported the theft to police, but not before Maria had collected $60,000 from the church. "I didn't want others to be ripped off by this lady," he said.

Sharynn Moniz had met Maria at a support group for families with incarcerated family members, Kaui said.

Maria told Moniz she would take care of everything for her granddaughter's luau -- from the invitations to hiring local entertainers Na Leo Pilimehana and the Makaha Sons, Lee said.

But as the date got closer and after unsuccessful attempts to contact Maria, Moniz learned she had been conned. Her granddaughter's first birthday passed with no celebration, and Moniz was out $4,685.

Richard Iliwaalani Jr., 75, Maria's uncle, lost his Hawaiian homestead home because of her. Maria assured him that she would get his mortgage current if he gave her power of attorney, he told the court.

What hurt the most, Iliwaalani said, was losing his granddaughter who was living with him at the time. Because they had nowhere to live, she had to move to Hilo, and he is now living with a nephew, he said.

Town ordered Maria to pay back Iliwaalani and Moniz. He also ordered her to pay $10,000 to a man who had paid Maria to help him obtain a Public Utilities Commission license and $3,000 to the woman whose son had to remain in jail because Maria did not bail him out. Town also admonished Maria for the suffering she has caused. "It's outrageous. Shame on you," he said.