Susan Puapuaga, a therapeutic aid with Alaka'i Na Keiki, is accused of billing the state for $1,800 in services that were not provided, said Attorney General Earl Anzai.

Officials called the charges against Puapuaga the tip of the iceberg and say at least six others are under investigation, with indictments expected in those cases, and additional cases are in the pipeline.

The charges against Puapuaga are a class C felony, each of which carries a maximum prison term of five years.

Hawai'i's special-education system has been under federal court oversight since the state signed the Felix consent decree in 1994, agreeing to improve services as required by law.

The state has spent more than $1 billion and has not yet reached compliance with the decree, although federal court officials have indicated for months that the state is likely to be found to be in compliance at a June 10 hearing before federal District Judge David Ezra.

The indictment today was a vindication for a joint Senate-House investigative committee organized last spring in the wake of growing concerns about the amount of money being funneled into special education and whether it was reaching the children for whom it was intended.

The committee issued a report in December that said the state program is still burdened with a host of bureaucratic and financial problems, some of which may merit criminal charges.

The report accused the Department of Education and the Department of Health of taking advantage of the federal court's "money is no object" stance and trying to spend their way into court compliance.