Arrests linked to money orders
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
Police say more arrests will come in a suspected forgery plot involving thousands of dollars in stolen U.S. Postal Service money orders.
On Wednesday, about 70 Honolulu police officers arrested 12 people — eight men and four women — in a daylong operation dubbed "Operation Funny Money Order," which spanned seven of the eight police districts on O'ahu. They were arrested on suspicion of felony first-degree forgery.
Nearly 80 money orders were stolen in January when the 'Aina Haina and Kaimuki post offices were broken into by two men, one of whom was later caught and incarcerated at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center. One of the 12 arrested Wednesday allegedly helped in the burglary while the other 11 attempted to cash the stolen money orders, police said.
Thirty-one of the 76 stolen money orders were negotiated at local banks, resulting in a loss of more than $22,000 to the U.S. Postal Service, said Tom Terry with the Postal Inspection Service.
Police are still looking for the rest of the stolen money orders. The investigation and arrests were handled by Honolulu police, inspectors with the U.S. Postal Service and Secret Service agents.
There are no known connections between any of the people arrested Wednesday, Police Department acting burglary and theft detective Clem Enoka said yesterday.
Most of the suspects were tracked down after cashing the stolen money orders, since the serial numbers are entered into a national computer database similar to one used to track stolen cars, Terry said.
Arrested were: Diane Cruz, 28; Lesley Cotton, 34; Grant Hamura, 37; Paul Hayes, 56; Sean Kakalia, 20; Alyssa Ruiz, 22; Carl Shimada, 40; Duane Stein, 51; Kum Chin Tokunaga, 49; Cyvenn Yamamoto, 39; and two unidentified men.
Staff writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report.Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
