U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, said he expects federal scrutiny of Hawaii’s COVID-19 contracts following a public corruption indictment involving Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and four others.
The charges against Luke, former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, state Airports Administrator Ford Fuchigami and businessman Tobi Solidum stem from alleged actions between 2020 and 2022, when Hawaii was operating under emergency COVID-19 proclamations and lawmakers were seeking funding
for testing, vaccinations, contact tracing and other
response efforts.
A central focus of the indictment is House Bill 2392, an emergency appropriations measure introduced by Yamane in January 2022 that ultimately provided about $170.4 million for COVID-19 response activities, including testing, monitoring, reporting, supplies and staffing.
Case said Monday in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the bribery allegations could prompt a federal audit or review of Hawaii’s COVID-19 contracts and spending.
“As a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which oversees and funds (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), I have a direct interest in ensuring federal FEMA dollars are spent appropriately and with full accountability,” Case said. “If there are credible allegations of waste, fraud or abuse involving federal funding, those concerns
deserve a thorough and transparent review.”
He said it remains unclear whether FEMA still has COVID-19 funds left to obligate to Hawaii. However, pending a full review, FEMA funding should not be jeopardized “if no wrongdoing in the delivery of the funds is found.”
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Case estimated FEMA has obligated about $312.8 million for Hawaii’s COVID-19 emergency response, including roughly $304 million through its Public Assistance program, which funds testing and response costs. He does not know how much of that funding has been reimbursed to the state Department of Health.
FEMA and DOH did not immediately respond to a request for information.
The other three members of Hawaii’s all-Democrat congressional delegation — Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, who is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Rep. Jill Tokuda — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the Legislature,
HB 2392 advanced as state officials warned they needed additional funding to sustain pandemic operations while awaiting federal reimbursement. DOH told lawmakers it lacked the resources to continue fronting costs for COVID-19
response efforts while maintaining services.
Then-Gov. David Ige urged “expeditious consideration” of the measure, while the state Department of Budget and Finance said the bill would allow the state to pay invoices immediately while seeking FEMA reimbursement.
According to the indictment delivered Friday by an Oahu grand jury, Solidum “developed lucrative financial interests” tied to the DOH’s contract with the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii to operate community COVID-19 testing sites. Prosecutors with the state Department of the Attorney General allege funding those operations became an increasing concern in 2022 as resources dwindled.
The indictment cites statements by Solidum
that he had invested about $11 million in the testing effort and that operating 25 community testing sites for a year cost roughly $54 million, excluding the COVID-19 tests and labor.
The National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii has said its current leadership was not in place during the period under investigation and that it has hired an independent forensic accounting and investigative firm to conduct a review.
Solidum was charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of bribery
after he allegedly bribed Luke and others with campaign contributions, checks and cash. A no-bail warrant was issued for Solidum, who is believed to have fled to the Philippines.
Luke, who chaired the House Finance Committee during the period in question, was charged with criminal conspiracy to
commit bribery, bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports. Prosecutors allege she accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions from Solidum and agreed to accept up to $70,000 with the “intent to use the power of her elected position to provide funding to DOH for community testing for COVID-19.”
Luke announced April 23 she was taking an indefinite, unpaid leave of absence as lieutenant governor. She also ended her reelection campaign.
Yamane, who is also the former director of the Department of Human Services, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery after he allegedly took money to push Solidum’s agenda with DOH.
Fuchigami was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, making false statements and obstruction of justice for conduct alleged to have occurred while he worked for the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
Leo Asuncion Jr., a former Luke campaign official and onetime Public Utilities Commission chairman, was charged with falsifying candidate committee reports, making false statements and obstruction of justice.
The possibility of additional federal scrutiny comes as Hawaii is already facing questions from Washington over its oversight of federal funds used to investigate Medicaid fraud. However, Case
said the situations are
fundamentally different.
“There was no allegation of wrongdoing in the Medicaid case, only a threat based on the criteria of not enough fraud convictions, which I disagree with,” he said.
The state learned last month that its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit had been denied federal recertification, putting about
$3 million in federal funding at risk. Federal officials cited a lack of Medicaid fraud indictments or convictions between 2022 and 2025.
That finding followed a May 14 news conference held by Vice President JD Vance on anti-fraud initiatives where he called out Hawaii’s Medicaid fraud program while giving examples of the “mostly blue states” that he said were soft on enforcement.
“If you’re committing fraud in Medicaid in Hawaii, at least up until now, hopefully now they’re going to take it seriously, you’ve had effectively free rein from the government of Hawaii to commit as much fraud as you want,” Vance said. “That is a complete disgrace.”
State Attorney General Anne E. Lopez, who oversaw the investigation into the public corruption case that resulted in charges against Luke and the others, has disputed Vance’s characterizations. Lopez noted the state has recovered more than $14 million through civil Medicaid fraud cases since 2021 and filed criminal healthcare fraud charges earlier this year.
Gov. Josh Green has said that Hawaii’s Medicaid program remains in good standing and that federal funding and benefits are unaffected. He also authorized the creation of an independent Medicaid Fraud Strike Force within the Department of Human Services.