Posted on: Friday, April 18, 2003

2 charged with welfare theft

By David Waite and Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writers

The former head of the Waimanalo Health Center and her ex-husband have been indicted on theft charges for allegedly bilking the state welfare system out of more than $19,000.

An O'ahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday against Radine Kamakea-Ohelo, 50, and her former husband, Clyde Kamakea-Ohelo, 52, accusing them of second-degree theft.

When state Deputy Attorney General Rick Damerville described the case to Circuit Judge Daniel Kochi while bail was being set for the couple, he said Clyde Kamakea-Ohelo told the state Department of Human Services that he had no assets and was living on the beach when he was actually living with his wife.

According to the indictment, the alleged theft took place between April 2000 and Dec. 31, 2002.

Damerville said Radine Kamakea-Ohelo, who also goes by the first name Kawahine, was named as an accomplice for allegedly taking part in a "sham divorce" to aid her husband in his efforts to get welfare payments he was not entitled to.

During the period identified in the indictment, Radine Kamakea-Ohelo was earning more than $6,000 a month, Damerville said. He said the ex-husband would not have been entitled to welfare if he was living with his wife.

Kochi approved bail of $4,000 for Clyde Kamakea-Ohelo and $1,000 for his former wife.

Neither Radine Kamakea-Ohelo nor her attorney could be reached for comment.

Dr. Charman Akina, interim executive director of the Waimanalo Health Center, said the firing of Kamakea-Ohelo had nothing to do with the charges brought in the indictment.

"Whatever happened outside of the health center is really not health center concerns," Akina said. "It's more of a personal nature."

At a December press conference Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), alleged that Kamakea-Ohelo had misused state and federal money for personal use and should step down as the health center's director.

She later was fired. However, no criminal charges have been filed against Kamakea-Ohelo in connection with the alleged misuse of money from the health center.

At the time, Hemmings also alleged that a relative of Kamakea-Ohelo was receiving food stamps by claiming he was homeless and using the center as his address when he lived with Kamakea-Ohelo in her Waimanalo home.

After hearing about the indictment, Hemmings said his intention has always been to rectify the alleged illegal activities at the health center.

"It's regrettable that things got so bad that they resulted in a criminal indictment," he said yesterday.

"I'm hoping all of this will be put behind us as soon as possible so we can focus our attention on having Waimanalo Health Center's time and money being spent on making things better for the people of Waimanalo."