Woman pleads no contest
in scam

A Waianae woman has pleaded no contest in a credit-card scheme where she defrauded Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. of about $25,000 to $30,000.

Shantel Santa Isabel, 22, entered her pleas to first-degree theft and computer fraud in Circuit Court yesterday before Circuit Judge Richard Pollack. She allegedly put money into her personal accounts by issuing refunds using a credit card machine at the Moanalua hospital.

"She's a young woman and single mother -- she didn't get rich off this, but she knows it's wrong and she's taking responsibility," said her attorney, Dana Ishibashi.

Santa Isabel was one of seven individuals indicted April 29 in connection with the scheme that also netted University of Hawaii running back West Keliikipi III.

Santa Isabel, who once worked as a cashier at 7-Eleven, was accused of showing other individuals sometime between February and May 2002 how to credit funds to their credit card accounts using the machine. Those individuals, including a boyfriend, were able to obtain money from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. for their personal use.

Ishibashi said Santa Isabel has cooperated with the investigation since her arrest and is willing to assist the prosecution in its case against her co-defendants.

Attempts by co-defendants to blame her for taking their cards to the machine and crediting their accounts are "completely untrue," he said.

Santa Isabel, who has no previous record, faces a maximum of 10 years for the theft when sentenced Jan. 31.

Ishibashi said he will ask the court to defer her plea to enable her to erase the charge from her record after a period similar to probation. Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee could not be reached for comment.

Trial for the remaining co-defendants is set for Dec. 13.