Baldwin, a close associate of Sen. Daniel Inouye and charter member of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, was arrested yesterday by the FBI at his Kalihiwai home. The bureau said he was indicted in 1986 by a Maricopa County, Arizona, grand jury in 1986 of felony charges of theft and fraud.

The Honolulu prosecutor’s office was expected to handle the extradition, but Jim Fulton, spokesman for Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, said the office had not yet received the case as of this morning.

Many Kaua‘i associates, stunned at the allegations, asked whether authorities had the right man. Baldwin has been active in the business community, having managed a Thrifty Car Rental franchise and owned a National Car Rental franchise in Lihu‘e, and operated other businesses. He has also been active in community affairs, in recent years has overseen the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board, and is viewed by many as the prime mover in developing a tourism and technology center in Waimea, designed to boost the West Kaua‘i economy.

"I was shocked," said longtime friend Noboru Yamane, who said Baldwin would have had to be in two places at once to be defrauding an Arizona eye doctor while running his car rental business on Kaua‘i.

Several friends said they have written letters of support for Baldwin, to be delivered to any court that hears his case.

Peter Herndon, who moved to Kaua‘i in 1988 to manage the Kaua‘i Hilton Hotel, said he met Baldwin when he first arrived and both participated with the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board in attracting federal assistance in helping the island’s economy recover after 1992’s Hurricane Iniki.

“We worked very closely together after the hurricane at KEDB. He’s a very smart guy,” Herndon said.

FBI agents in Honolulu and Phoenix said Baldwin is alleged to have served as a consultant to prominent Arizona eye doctor David D. Dulaney, and over a period of several months to have stolen $300,000. The FBI said Baldwin left a suicide note and disappeared after learning that he had been indicted on four felony counts of theft and one felony count of fraud.

Arthur Jackson, a spokesman for Dulaney, would provide no details.

"The matter with Mr. Baldwin is very serious.  Everyone involved is pleased that it is now in the hands of the proper legal authorities. I have been advised to make no further comment at this time," Jackson said.

One of the mysteries of the case is how Baldwin could have escaped detection for 15 years. He has lived a prominent life on Kaua‘i under the same name as the man accused in Arizona. Neither law enforcement authorities nor Jackson would comment on why it took so long. The FBI said it was asked to enter the case only last month.

"We started looking in June 2002," said Phoenix agent Susan Herskovits.

One issue that bothers some Kaua‘i residents is the problem with dates. Baldwin himself has said he arrived on Kaua‘i in 1982, and some early friends remember him being on the island well before 1986.

Yamane, then manager for Hawaiian Airlines on the island, said he recalls going on Mainland tourism promotion trips with Baldwin as part of the Kaua‘i Promotion Committee in the years immediately after 1982’s Hurricane Iwa.

"It was during Tony’s (Mayor Tony Kunimura) first administration (1982-1984). We were on the bus, and I remember this fat haole boy sitting in the back of the bus with us. He worked hard, carrying boxes and things, and since I was the oldest one there, I made it a point to make him feel at home," Yamane said.

"Gary was on those trips," he said.

"It doesn’t make sense. This is really bizarre," Herndon said.

In Hawai‘i, Baldwin is know as an intelligent, aggressive advocate for the state’s economy, and Kaua‘i’s economy in particular. He is a former chairman of the Kaua‘i Planning Commission, and former president of the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board. He was a charter director of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, where he served as chairman of the strategic planning and accountability committee until his term ended this year.

"He’s a very bright guy, a big contributor to the HTA," said Rick Humphreys, executive director of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. "He was always available. I would say he played a significant role."

During the past 15 years on Kaua‘i, he was general manager of the Thrifty Car Rental franchise and later owned a National Car Rental franchise, a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop and a wholesale bakery known as Da Crusty Gecko. He told reporters he sold the National franchise. The other businesses have closed.

He won the 1997 Small Business Administration’s award as the Kaua‘i small business person of the year. In the same year, Inside Kaua‘i magazine named him one of the island’s two most influential people. He won the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce aloha spirit award in 1993. He recently has marketed himself as a management consultant and has focused on development of a second phase of the West Kaua‘i Technology and Visitor Center in Waimea, which has him listed as managing director.

Details of his life before his arrival on Kaua‘i are sketchy. He told a reporter for Inside Kaua‘i that he was from St. Louis, and that he had worked in the aluminum industry.