Members of Maui Sovereignty Group Indicted

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BY JIM DOOLEY – Members of a Maui group that promised elimination of tax bills and mortgage debts were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on 25 criminal charges, including fraud, money-laundering and tax offenses.

Charged were Mahealani Ventura-Oliver, 42, her husband, John D. Oliver, 46, and three others involved in groups called Hawaiiloa Foundation, Ko Hawaii Pae Aina and The Registry.

The defendants allegedly collected $468,000 in fees or “kokua” payments from 2008-2110 to hold private meetings about “a debt assistance program which they claimed could eliminate mortgage, credit card and other debt,” said Hawaii U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni.

Other defendants in the case are Pilialoha K. Teves, 49, Leatrice Lehua Hoy, 52 and Peter “Petro” Hoy, 76, all of Maui.

All are scheduled to appear in federal court next month, said Asst. U.S. Atty. Larry Tong.

The indictment alleged that the defendants told their followers that all indviduals hold “special reserves” in the U.S. Treasury which could be used to “zero out” debts.

They allegedly issued fictitious bonds, promissory notes and money orders “which they falsely claimed were backed by the U.S. Treasury and State of Hawaii,” the government alleged.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have been investigating the group wince 2009.

Its members and adherents filed a flurry of paperwork in federal court in 2009, claiming that a series of FBI searches and asset seizures on Maui were illegal.

Ko Hawaii Pae Aina claims on its website, https://kohawaiipaeaina.net,  that it represents a sovereign nation “comprised of all of the landed property belonging to Hawaiiloa a great Navigator King and founder of Pacific trade, commerce and oceanic development within the Pacific Triangle and outer Pacific Rim.”

Members could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The defendants allegedly collected individual fees of $1,500 to $10,000 and also prepared false income tax filings which claimed refunds of more than $1.5 million.

Tong declined to say if any of the refund claims were honored by the IRS.

Assisting in the investigation were criminal investigators from the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service.

 

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Jim Dooley joined the Hawaii Reporter staff as an investigative reporter in October 2010. Before that, he has worked as a print and television reporter in Hawaii since 1973, beginning as a wire service reporter with United Press International. He joined Honolulu Advertiser in 1974, working as general assignment and City Hall reporter until 1978. In 1978, he moved to full-time investigative reporting in for The Advertiser; he joined KITV news in 1996 as investigative reporter. Jim returned to Advertiser 2001, working as investigative reporter and court reporter until 2010. Reach him at Jim@hawaiireporter.com

6 COMMENTS

  1. These clowns have been messing with land titles and taxes for many years. Hundreds of people have been scammed. It’s reminiscent of the “Perfect Title” scam about 10-15 years ago, in which Keanu Sai and his buddies ripped off hundreds of people for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for bogus “title searches” and messed up hundreds of innocent landowners whose legitimate land titles were “clouded” by the filing of bogus “warranty deeds” in the Bureau of Conveyances. The Sai scam also went on for several years too long before the law finally caught up. Better late than never, I suppose.

  2. Another of the smooth speaking “con-men”. People who sold the ‘con’ should be punished. No thinking person could believe what they were selling. The ‘victims’ are those who chose to try to oustmart everyone else.. Much like the people who sold the scam about not paying income taxes. In both cases, the ‘victims’ are not innocent.

    PS: Please publish pictures! Mehalani is all over YouTube but cannot find pics of the others.

  3. Go on utube, type in petro hoy video and you will see him there, he will be sat on a beach in a white suit in all his pathetic glory.

  4. Hello people,

    I haven’t been on here for a while, does anyone know if the trial is forthcoming yet? I would love to know when the trial date is and wish I could be there in so many ways,,,,,,,,bye the way, the walking stick he now seems to use, or in the Dorcy trial anyway, is something he would rather die than admit to needing in public unless it works for him and by that I mean unless it helps him look “feeble”, something he would NEVER want to look “the victim” he would never in a million years use something like that (unless it suites), and the “cancer” he has? again he is far too vain and would never admit to having.
    It would hinder his “youthfulness” unless again it suits in court for the same reason however it is something that a fair skinned English man should expect when abusing the sun which he has always done trying to blend in with the locals, sadly in his case it is probably treatable,, he only ever managed to look red not tanned, anyone who knows him will know what I mean., if we said you look red, he would say “I’m tanned”

    I have nor do I want any other way of contacting him but I learned something recently involving my daughter, his youngest granddaughter, at the time she was just 14yr old, if I had known then…. What you made her do when she stayed with your for those 2 weeks after I left and what you tried to make her do all in the name of modelling photographs? Sickened me. People, he made his own granddaughter take her bra off in the name of putting together for her. a “portfolio” and has anyone seen the poster of the young tennis player lifting her skirt up at the back to show her bottom? He tried to get her, his own 14yr old granddaughter to do that pose,,,,,,,,,,,,she refused.

    If you read this “DAD” shame on you, YOU PERVERT!! Gemma told me only recently the real reason she wanted to come home and shame on me for leaving her there with you, you FREAK! . what you made her do and what you wanted her to do, Oh My God, you filthy piece of shit, if I could be in front of you now you would not intimidate me as you once did, I would slap your face, you disgust me, you make me sick and I hope you do read this you piece of filth, I wish I had known at the time I would have called the police, you make me sick if you have an ounce of decency in you, burn those negatives, you filthy pervert, she was your own flesh and blood, you disgust me, you wife was no better, she was there!

  5. I have just seen this piece in his case v Dorcy, and all I can say is OH,,,,,MY ,,,GOD!!!!!!,
    his physician’s letter said that because Hoy “had difficulty thinking, he could not attend any deposition until further notice,” Rudy said.

    Rudy whoever you are, I’m sorry his doctor is paid to say what he wants him to say, he is paying him, but you cannot be that naive, surely? this is the person who thinks he is above anyone else, he told me (didn’t believe it by the way) that he was involved with stem cell research lol, he believes his own lies, always has, look up Pathological liar, it could have been based on him,,,,,,,,,surely other people don’t STILL believe all his rubbish??
    Well all I can say “petro” is I challenge you “dad” in any court, to disprove anything I have said about you,,,,,,,,,,,I have proof, and paperwork (mum left it when she died) and a daughter for proof of what I have said,,,,,,,do you!!!!!

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