A city worker who was indicted by the O'ahu grand jury yesterday on bribery and related charges admitted he accepted money to illegally update motor vehicle registrations for at least 12 years, a city prosecutor said yesterday.

Brian K. Hamasaki would charge businesses and other vehicle owners about half the cost of legitimately updating the registrations, but would keep the cash instead of turning it over to the city, city Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Van Marter said.

Van Marter would not say exactly how much the city lost in not getting registration fees, but said the amount runs in the "thousands and thousands of dollars." He said their investigation showed Hamasaki was actually illegally updating the registration for more than 15 years.

Van Marter told Circuit Judge Derrick Chan that prosecutors expect more indictments against Hamasaki and others. The deputy prosecutor later declined to elaborate.

Chan approved bail of $25,000 for Hamasaki.

Hamasaki, a customer services representative for the city motor vehicle licensing division at Fort Street Mall, was placed on administrative leave on April 26 after the city learned about what it said were "possible improprieties" with certain motor vehicle transactions.

He was indicted by the grand jury yesterday on charges of bribery, second-degree theft and tampering with a government record. The bribery charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, second-degree theft up to five years, and the tampering charge up to a year behind bars.

William Jameson, Hamasaki's lawyer in a pending drug case, said he can't comment on the indictment allegations, but said Hamasaki will plead not guilty when he is arraigned later this month.

Motorists are required to update their registration for their vehicles each year at a cost that varies depending on the vehicle's weight and usage.

Van Marter told the judge yesterday that Hamasaki was the target of a sting operation after two confidential informants reported to prosecutors that Hamasaki had expected money for illegally updating registrations.

Hamasaki later met with a confidential informant and an undercover police officer and received $1,000 to update the registration for three vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, Van Marter said.

The cost of legitimately updating the registrations was more than $2,000, he said.

After his arrest, Hamasaki gave a statement admitting he accepted bribes since at least 1995, Van Marter said.

Hamasaki also faces a trial scheduled for next month on drug and drug paraphernalia charges. He was arrested at Honolulu International Airport in December after a security search found a small amount of marijuana and two glass pipes, including one with crystal methamphetamine, according to prosecutors.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.