Posted on: Wednesday, July 17, 2002

Contractor sentenced for theft, fraud

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

A unlicensed contractor who was paid thousands of dollars for construction work that he either failed to do or did shoddily has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $5,000 in restitution to homeowners.

Thomas Aholelei, 39, also known as Viliami Aholelei and William Aholelei, pleaded guilty to four class C felony counts of second-degree theft and three misdemeanor counts of unlicensed contracting activity, said Attorney General Earl Anzai. On June 18, he was sentenced by Circuit Judge Sandra Simms to five years in prison.

Three of the felony theft counts were related to unlicensed contracting cases where Aholelei took money from people who thought he was going to perform contracting services for them. The other felony count involved public assistance or welfare fraud. The misdemeanor counts involved work Aholelei did, but did incompletely or poorly. All the offenses occurred within the past three years on O'ahu.

Prosecutors called Aholelei's case flagrant because he continued his unlicensed activity after he was fined more than $100,000 by the courts for such activity in 1998.

"Mr. Aholelei was a repeat offender who would not stop his unlicensed contracting activity, even after being ordered by the court to stop and being assessed administrative fines," Anzai said.

Anzai said unlicensed activity hurts a lot of people and that people hiring contractors need to make sure that the contractor is properly licensed.

Deputy Attorney General Mark G. McConnell of the state's Criminal Justice Division said there's a good chance that Aholelei duped more victims. Aholelei will spend at least 1.8 years in prison before he's eligible for parole, McConnell said.

As part of his sentence, Aholelei was ordered to pay restitution of $5,700 to homeowners who had paid deposits to him for contracting work. Aholelei also was ordered to pay restitution of $7,970 to the state Department of Human Services for fraudulently collecting welfare payments that he was not entitled to.

"This reflects an ongoing effort by our office to identify the most flagrant cases and to ensure those people receive appropriate prosecution and sentences," McConnell said.

In one case, a victim paid Aholelei $5,000 to build a retaining wall that Aholelei never built, McConnell said.

Aholelei, who lived in Wai'anae and on the Big Island, misrepresented himself as a licensed contractor by using the name of someone who previously held a valid contractor's license, McConnell said.

Members of the public who wish to check on a contractor's license or who have information on individuals engaging in unlicensed contracting activities are urged to call the Consumer Resource Center in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs at 587-3222.