Former managing partner at top Hawaii CPA firm guilty on 13 felony counts
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The former managing partner of one of Hawaii's largest CPA firms has been found guilty on 13 felony counts of money laundering, theft, and forgery.
Patrick Oki received the guilty verdicts in court Thursday, and faces a minimum of 20 years behind bars for stealing $500,000 from his former firm, PKF Hawaii.
"He lied, actually quite well, for a very long time," said Circuit Judge Rom Trader.
"He ended up stealing vast sums of money."
Added Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter:
"This verdict today should remove any doubt about Patrick Oki being a con man, a thief and a liar and now a convicted felon," Van Marter said.
His attorney Howard Luke said Oki will likely appeal. Luke said that under the terms of the partnership agreement at PKF, Oki was entitled to the money he was accused of stealing.
"Actually he was underpaid -- or under compensated I should say -- for the amount of money he should have been earning under the partnership agreement," said Luke.
The guilty verdict represents a big fall for Oki. He was a managing partner at PKF and was prominent in the community, once serving as president of the University of Hawaii Alumni Association.
But that all disappeared as his theft schemes started to unravel.
Over three years, prosecutors alleged, Oki forged signatures, made up fictitious companies and people, and even made up fake dealings with the Central Intelligence Agency, all as part of four separate schemes to steal from the firm and his four partners.
"When you look at the evidence we recovered, with him creating fake websites, fake emails and fake Paypal accounts, the fact that we found all of that is a reflection of the arrogance he had that he could get away with it," Van Marter said.
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