A former U.S. Army captain stationed at Schofield Barracks has been indicted on charges of stealing some $400,000 in Army money while serving in Afghanistan in 2005.

David Silivano Gilliam, 39, was on deployment as a disbursement officer for Alpha Detachment, 125th Finance Battalion, in April 2005 when he "bulk smuggled" Army cash from Kandahar Air Base to Hawai'i, according to the six-count indictment.

Gilliam, who is no longer in the Army, appeared in federal district court in Honolulu yesterday and entered a not-guilty plea to the charges against him, which include theft, smuggling, foreign and interstate transportation of stolen money, money laundering and making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service.

Gilliam surrendered to federal authorities last month in South Carolina and voluntarily returned to Hawai'i to face the charges against him, according to the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors.

He posted a $5,000 bond before Magistrate Barry Kurren and was released pending trial.

According to the indictment, Gilliam used some of the stolen cash to buy a $254,000 cashier's check from First Hawaiian Bank on May 10, 2005.

He allegedly told an IRS agent that the cash came from "a dating service he had operated while stationed at Fort Clay, Panama," when in fact "the funds had come from his theft of United States currency," the indictment said.

The U.S. attorney's office said Gilliam smuggled the funds from Afghanistan to Hawai'i, where he used the stolen money "to engage in a number of financial transactions."

Gilliam moved to South Carolina, taking the money with him, and continued to spend the proceeds, according to federal authorities. Army officials in Hawai'i referred questions to the U.S. attorney's office.

Trial is set for May 12. If found guilty, Gilliam faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the theft, transportation of stolen funds and money laundering charges, and a maximum of five years for the "bulk smuggling" and false statement charges, officials said.