Posted on: Saturday, May 10, 2003

'Smaller' player admits overbilling at airport

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The owner of an auto painting shop pleaded guilty yesterday to overbilling the state Airports Division in an alleged theft and bribery scheme at Honolulu International Airport.

Roy T. Yoshida, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree theft before Circuit Judge Dan Kochi. Yoshida, owner of Yoshida Auto Paint Shop, acknowledged that he overbilled the state by at least $6,500 while performing work for the Airports Division from July 14, 1997, to Jan. 10, 2002.

Yoshida is the second person to enter a guilty plea and agree to cooperate with the attorney general's office in the investigation of the alleged scheme. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, but may not serve any time depending on the extent of his cooperation, said senior Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya.

Goya characterized Yoshida as a small player in the alleged scheme, in which millions of dollars in airport construction and repair contracts were awarded by airport personnel to private firms since 1995. A group of contractors are alleged to have inflated bills for airport work and kicked back cash and other gratuities to airport officials.

"He's really, on the scale of things, probably one of the smaller individuals," Goya said. "That's part of the reason we're looking to him in trying to get some cooperation because obviously we're looking for people that are more seriously and deeply involved."

Goya said he expects at least six more people to reach similar agreements in the next couple of months. He said his office is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office to prosecute the "big fish" involved in the scheme.

In November, former airports official Harry Shibuya pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to first-degree theft. Shibuya served as the supervising inspector for the airport's maintenance section.