O'ahu briefs

Advertiser Staff and News Services

LEEWARD

Fire destroys Nanakuli home

Four Nanakuli residents, including two boys, 5 and 7, were left homeless by a fire that destroyed their home Saturday night.

The Honolulu Fire Department dispatched 11 fire units to 87-1535 Kapiki Road. About 30 firefighters from seven fire companies battled the blaze.

A neighbor who had tried to fight the fire was treated for burns at the scene. An ambulance took her to St. Francis Medical Center West.

The Fire Department had the fire under control within two hours of the 9:36 p.m. call. Hawaiian Electric Co. sent in a crew to deal with live electrical wires exposed in the fire. The fire is under investigation. Officials estimate the damage at $140,000.

Red Cross volunteers were called to help the family.

HONOLULU

Man sentenced in Ponzi scheme

A man who pleaded guilty to his part in a $66 million Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to five years' probation.

Stephen Marn, who was president of the now defunct Fidelity Escrow Services, was also fined $10,000 and ordered to perform 3,000 hours of community service.

Marn, 66, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy and wire fraud charges.

Last week, an organizer of the scheme, Montez Salamasina Ottley, was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $66 million in restitution. The money was bilked from 5,000 people in Hawai'i, American Samoa and the Mainland.