Man pleads no contest in city auto parts scam

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

The first of four men accused of participating in an auto parts scam to steal from the city pleaded no contest to theft yesterday in Circuit Court.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, former Honolulu Police Department storekeeper Winston Owan agreed to repay the city $10,000 for the parts he purchased with city money through a Kaimuki auto parts firm, but which he kept for his own use. Owan, an HPD employee, was fired in April.

Prosecutors say Owan and the others stole automobile parts from the city or had the city pay far more than necessary for parts to repair city police cars.

In exchange for Owan's pleading no contest to one count each of first-degree theft and second-degree theft, the prosecution will drop six other charges against him, including money laundering, bribery and unlawful ownership of a business, city Deputy Prosecutor Randal Lee said.

When Owan and former HPD automotive equipment supervisor Victor Hasebe were indicted in April, Lee said the two men formed an arrangement with Larry's Auto Parts in Kaimuki to substantially overprice the goods sold to the city to maintain police vehicles. The high-priced parts included motor oil, transmission fluid, oil and transmission filters, air filters, spark plugs and other routine maintenance items.

Lee said at the time that investigators believed HPD purchased more than $800,000 worth of goods from the parts store from July 1993 to August 1999 at prices that were inflated by about 30 percent.

In return, the parts store provided "kickbacks" to Hasebe and Owan in the form of cash, parts and travel, Lee said. The said the parts store paid for at least two trips to Las Vegas for Hasebe and his guests and one trip to Las Vegas for Owan and his guests.

Parts store employees John and Ernest Isono are expected to enter pleas in the case today, Lee said.