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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / 2014
Two men with HPD ties were arrested today in connection with a federal investigation into wrongdoing surrounding retired Honolulu police Chief Louis Kealoha (pictured), his wife, Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, and other Honolulu Police Department officers.
The FBI arrested a current and a former police officer today in connection with a federal investigation into wrongdoing surrounding retired Honolulu police Chief Louis Kealoha, his wife, Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, and other Honolulu Police Department officers.
FBI Special Agent Arnold Laanui said the FBI arrested Bobby Nguyen and Gordon Shiraishi today. He could not comment further on the arrests because the investigation of the case is under seal in court.
Generally, he said, a person arrested by the FBI is held at the Federal Detention Center near Daniel K. Inouye International Airport until the person makes an initial appearance in federal court.
The arrests are related to an investigation into wrongdoing surrounding the theft of Kealoha’s mailbox in June 2013 when Kealoha was chief of the department.
Officer Nguyen was in HPD’s Criminal Intelligence Unit at the time. Shiraishi was a supervisor in CIU at the time and has since retired as a major.
The man accused of stealing the mailbox, Gerard Puana, is the uncle of Katherine Kealoha, who said she recognized him in a video of the mailbox theft.
Puana’s attorney at the time, 1st Assistant Federal Public Defender Alexander Silvert, claimed police framed his client.
The federal mailbox case ended in a mistrial in 2014 after Louis Kealoha presented unsolicited information during his testimony. After the mistrial, prosecutors dismissed the case against Puana. Silvert subsequently presented to prosecutors what he said was evidence of police corruption.
A federal grand jury has been looking into the case involving the Kealohas for nearly two years.
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