Mainland fugitives nabbed in Hawai'i for welfare fraud

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mainland fugitives from the law won't get a free ride in Hawai'i, Attorney General Earl Anzai said yesterday.

Hawai'i has caught 225 persons wanted for felony crimes in 27 states collecting $900,000 a year in welfare checks here, he said.

Wanted persons are ineligible for most public assistance.

In June, Hawai'i joined four other states accepting FBI help to identify suspects and crooks on the dole.

They found probation and parole violators and others wanted in connection with assault, rape, kidnapping, escape, counterfeiting, drugs, weapons crimes and desertion from the military.

Anzai praised Human Services Chief Investigator Eric Weyenberg and Special Investigator Antonio Borboa for nailing them.

"Their efforts have saved the state almost a million dollars, and will make Hawai'i safer," he said.

Now Hawai'i has to get the other states to take their crooks back.

"Too frequently, financially strapped states decline to extradite" because of the costs, Anzai said.

But offenders who lied on welfare applications will still be prosecuted here for fraud, he said.

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.