Attorney indicted in insurance theft case

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

The O'ahu grand jury yesterday indicted Honolulu attorney Jerrold Y. Chun on 13 felony counts stemming from allegations that he stole from two former insurance companies in June and July.

Chun, 55, faces a maximum jail term of 10 years and a $25,000 fine for each of the charges, which include three counts of first-degree theft, 10 counts of money laundering and one count of unlawful ownership or operation of business.

The charges against him originated from an internal investigation by state insurance commissioner J.P. Schmidt, who has said that Chun took more than $6 million. According to Schmidt's investigation, Chun had negotiated substantially lower payouts for three insurance claims and then kept the difference from the original claim amount.

Deputy Attorney General Mark Miyahira would not say how much money allegedly was stolen, beyond the fact that each of the first-degree theft counts alleges the theft of more than $20,000.

Chun, who is free on bail, could not be reached for comment.

He is expected to be arraigned in Circuit Court sometime next week, Miyahira said.

Chun was hired by the commissioner to handle the liquidation of HUI/UNICO in Liquidation Inc. In 1992, Hawaiian Underwriters Insurance Co. and United National Insurance Co. became HUI/UNICO after they were taken over by the commissioner. The number of insurance claims against the firms exceeded available resources because of Hurricane 'Iniki, according to the attorney general's office.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.