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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, October 15, 2009

Identity thief faces additional counts


By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Henry Calucag Jr.

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Legal troubles continue to mount for a 60-year-old Honolulu man who is serving a 30-year prison term for identity theft and is also a suspect in the murder of one man and disappearance of two others.

Henry Calucag Jr., also known as Hank Jacinto, was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering and illegal transportation. Calucag's girlfriend, Debra Anagaran, 52, also was indicted on wire fraud, mail fraud and money-laundering charges.

The two are accused of concocting schemes to victimize three men over a 16-year period. The charges were contained in a superseding indictment that added charges to an indictment of the two in January.

In that indictment, Calucag and Anagaran were accused of fraudulently obtaining the title to the St. Louis Heights home of Arthur Young in 1990. The couple also persuaded Young to use equity in his home to fund a $70,000 investment in a company owned by Calucag and to sign promissory notes totaling $200,000, of which $70,000 was used by the couple to obtain a mortgage, according to the indictment.

In the latest indictment, Calucag's alleged victims were named only by their first names and last name initials. Although referred to in the new indictment as "Arthur S.Y.," U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said the charges in both indictments referred to alleged financial crimes against the same person.

The two other alleged victims were "Douglas H." and "John E.," according to the indictment. In earlier court documents, Calucag, whom prosecutors described as a "professional con man," was linked with men named Douglas Ho and John Elwin.

Young, Ho and Elwin were induced by Calucag to travel to the Philippines with him on separate occasions, prosecutors said. None of the men has been seen alive since.

Elwin flew with Calucag to the Philippines in May 2006 and disappeared soon after. Later that month, Elwin's body was found with a single gunshot wound to the head along a mountain highway in a town outside Manila. No charges have been filed in that case, which remains under investigation.

In June 2007, Calucag was found guilty of identity theft and stealing property worth more than $250,000 from Elwin. Calucag was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Young went to the Philippines with Calucag in October 1990, but has not been seen or heard from since. Ho also disappeared after traveling with Calucag to the Philippines in 2005.

Those cases remain under investigation.