Four defendants in Hawaiʻi's high-profile government bribery case have pleaded not guilty to their charges.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, former Public Utilities Commission Chair Leo Asuncion, and Transportation Department airport administrator Ford Fuchigami entered their pleas in First Circuit Court Thursday morning.
They’ve been indicted in an alleged corruption scandal from 2021 and 2022 involving business person Tobi Solidum, who was not present at the court hearing.
Luke and Yamane are accused of accepting thousands of dollars from Solidum, who had sought government funds in contracts for COVID-19 testing, while at the state Legislature and having influence over the appropriation of emergency funds.
Eric Seitz is Fuchigami’s attorney. After the pleas he questioned the viability of the case, which was investigated by state Attorney General Anne Lopez and her office.
“As far as the case is concerned, you know, I've been doing conspiracy cases for close to 60 years, and they're almost impossible to prove. I was involved in all the big conspiracy cases, or most of them, in the late '60s and '70s. The government never got convictions in any of those cases because they're virtually impossible to prove,” he told reporters. “Why this attorney general thinks that she can do something that many, many more experienced prosecutors have not been able to successfully do, I just don't know.”
Seitz says he believes the case is politically motivated. The trial is set to start on Sept. 28.
