Tag: Hawaii
Patrick Rakotonanahary, Forex Ponzi Scheme, Hawaii 2010
Patrick Rakotonanahary, of Punta Gorda, Florida, was arrested on March 15, 2010, and faces both federal and state charges related to a multi-million dollar foreign currency (forex) Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The charges were announced following a joint investigation with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District…
Marvin Cooper, Forex Ponzi Scheme, Hawaii 2010
Honolulu, HI – Marvin Cooper has been ordered to pay over $6.2 million in penalties and restitution after being found liable for operating a $4 million Ponzi scheme targeting deaf individuals, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on September 2, 2010. Cooper, along with his company Billion Coupons, Inc. (BCI), defrauded more than…
Perry Jay Griggs, Ponzi Scheme, Hawaii 2010
Perry Jay Griggs and his wife, Rachelle Griggs, are facing charges related to a multi-million dollar commodity futures Ponzi scheme that operated from at least 2005 through 2009. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed an enforcement action against the couple and their company, Aloha Trading Company, Inc., on October 28, 2010, in the…
Patrick Rakotonanahary, Forex Ponzi Scheme, Hawaii 2011
Patrick Rakotonanahary, formerly of Punta Gorda, Florida, has been permanently banned from trading and registering with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) following a multi-million dollar foreign currency (forex) Ponzi scheme, according to a consent order entered November 4, 2011, by the Honorable Susan Oki Mollway of the U.S. District Court for the District of…
Rajesh Pankaj Budhabhatti, Bribery, Hawaii 2025
⏱ 2 min read On the sun-kissed Big Island, a shadowy scheme brewed, siphoning off millions meant for struggling families. A corrupt official at the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development was bribed by a billionaire and two attorneys to greenlight $11 million in affordable housing deals. A June 2025 jury nailed Rajesh…
Rajesh Pankaj Budhabhatti, Multimillion Dollar Bribery Scheme, Hawaii 2025
Related Federal Cases Dae Yong Lee, Bribery, California 2023 · Arkansas Billionaire Bribesman Sent Down for $11M Hawaii Scam Rewritten: Billionaire Bribesman, Specific Crime, Hawaii 2024 · Hawaii Letitia James, Embezzlement of Federal Funds, New York 2023 · Alabama Letitia James, Agency Demolition Blockage, New York 2023 · New York Letitia James, Federal SNAP Benefits…
Gabriel Eberhardt, Drug Trafficking & Shooting, Honolulu HI, 2024
HONOLULU, HI – Gabriel Antone Eberhardt, 42, of Detroit, Michigan, will spend the next three decades behind bars after being sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for leading a drug trafficking organization in Honolulu and firing a weapon at a drug deal gone bad. U.S. District Judge Jill A. Otake handed down the sentence…
USDA Exec Cashes In on COVID-19 Relief Rewritten: USDA Exec, Embezzlement, California 2020
⏱ 2 min read A former USDA official in Honolulu, Hawaii, cashed in on COVID-19 relief funds, pleading guilty to accepting a $5,000 bribe. Jason Shitanishi, 60, was County Executive Director for the City and County of Honolulu in 2020 and 2021. Related Federal Cases Tony Sullivan, Donut Shop Robberies, Los Angeles CA, 2023 ·…
Paul Henri Marie Harleman, Wire Fraud, Hawaii 2022
HONOLULU, HI – Paul Henri Marie Harleman, 35, of Honolulu, has confessed to a brazen $1.2 million scheme to fleece his clients through wire fraud and money laundering. Harleman, already locked up since April 23, 2021, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson, facing a potential lifetime of regret – and potentially, a…
Brandon Charles Saffeels, Attempted Child Enticement, Hawaii 2022
HONOLULU, HI – A former Maui Police Department officer has fallen from grace, admitting to a horrific attempt to exploit a child online. Brandon Charles Saffeels, 37, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to attempted child enticement, a charge carrying a potential life sentence. The betrayal is especially stinging given Saffeels was already facing…
