The FBI yesterday raided four Maui homes as part of its investigation into allegations that several local companies bilked homeowners out of more than $300,000 on O'ahu, the Big Island and Maui with false promises to help them avoid foreclosure.

The FBI executed search warrants yesterday at a home on Ho'okahi Street in Wailuku, another on Mo'olu Circle in Waikapu and two other locations on Maui. Agents seized computer records, boxes of files and other evidence.

"The FBI is conducting search warrants on Maui in relation to an ongoing criminal investigation but I cannot discuss the nature of the investigation," FBI agent Brandon Simpson said. "The affidavit related to the search warrants has been placed under seal (by the court)."

Officials said the homeowners, many of whom are Native Hawaiian, were charged between $2,500 and $10,000 to attend seminars or counseling sessions on avoiding foreclosure, and were told they would receive bonds worth $1 million that could be used to pay off the outstanding balance of their mortgage.

Officials said the bonds were bogus and that no mortgages were paid off.

The schemes also promise to block property taxes and override credit card debt.

The bogus bonds are not sold through an investment firm or brokerage house, as legitimate bonds are. They also purport to represent ownership in a fictitious Hawaiian nation named Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, sponsored by the Hawaiiloa Foundation.

The companies pushing the bogus bonds, several claiming to be affiliated with Native Hawaiian sovereignty movements, are targeting Native Hawaiian homeowners and others who are facing foreclosure.

After attending the seminars, homeowners are told that a $1 million "Royal Hawaiian Treasury Bond" will be sent to their bank with a letter explaining that it will cover the outstanding balance of their mortgage.

The companies tell the homeowners that because they are members of the "Hawaiian nation," the bank no longer could demand money from them because they are the land's "rightful owners," officials said.

The banks eventually deem the bonds are fraudulent and inform the homeowners that they are in default on their mortgage.

As part of the scheme, the "mortgage counselors" tell their clients to ignore the letters that the banks send them threatening foreclosure because they are monitoring the situation and will respond on their behalf.