Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) has been indicted on multiple felony charges in a public corruption investigation alleging she accepted campaign contributions in exchange for helping advance funding tied to the state’s COVID-19 testing program.
The 12-count indictment, returned Friday by an Oʻahu grand jury, charges Luke with criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, and falsifying campaign committee reports.
Prosecutors also indicted businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum, former state Rep. Ryan Yamane (D), Department of Transportation Airports Administrator Ford Fuchigami and former Public Utilities Commission Chairman Leo Asuncion Jr.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said the charges are the result of a six-month investigation conducted by the department’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division, which was created to investigate alleged public corruption.
Lopez told reporters the investigation followed the facts regardless of where they led, while Supervising Deputy Attorney General David Van Acker reminded the public that the indictment contains allegations and that the criminal justice system requires a presumption of innocence throughout the legal process.
According to prosecutors, the alleged scheme centered on efforts by businessman Tobi Solidum to secure continued state funding for a COVID-19 community testing program in which prosecutors allege he had financial interests, Maui Now reported.
Investigators allege Solidum agreed to provide Luke with up to $70,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for using her position as chair of the Hawaii House Finance Committee to support funding for the testing program.
Court documents allege the arrangement was discussed during a January 2022 dinner at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Honolulu, where Solidum allegedly handed Luke an envelope containing two $5,000 campaign checks that were deposited into her campaign account the following day.
Prosecutors also allege additional campaign contributions were discussed during the meeting.
Separate allegations in the indictment accuse Yamane of accepting money from Solidum while helping advance House Bill 2392, an emergency appropriation measure that included funding for the Department of Health’s COVID-19 testing efforts.
Fuchigami is accused of accepting a $7,000 payment from a company controlled by Solidum and later making false statements to investigators.
Asuncion, meanwhile, is accused of helping conceal campaign contributions by filing inaccurate campaign finance reports and making false statements during the investigation.
Gov. Josh Green, who was elected alongside Luke in 2022, said following the indictment that the lieutenant governor should consider formally resigning so the state can move forward, according to UPI.
Luke has been on an unpaid leave of absence since April after learning she was a target of the investigation and previously ended her reelection campaign.
Former Maui County Managing Director Keith Regan has been serving as acting lieutenant governor during her leave.
The indictment places Hawaii’s highest-ranking state elected official ever indicted in a public corruption case at the center of an ongoing criminal prosecution.
Authorities have not announced a trial date, and prosecutors continue to emphasize that the allegations remain unproven and that each defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence throughout the judicial process.
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