1 12 months Jail for Architect Who Paid $100K in Bribes to Honolulu Constructing Allow Officers

HONOLULU (AP) — An architect was sentenced to a yr in jail for paying greater than $100,000 in bribes to Honolulu metropolis staff in change for expediting approval of his initiatives.

5 employees had been charged in 2021 and accused of taking bribes in change for favors, together with expediting constructing permits, in a scandal that prompted the division to overtake its allowing course of. They’ve since pleaded responsible.

At William Wong’s sentencing in U.S. District Courtroom in Honolulu on Thursday, his lawyer stated Wong performed a significant function in exposing the scandal by cooperating within the investigation, Hawaii News Now reported.

Protection lawyer William Harrison stated his shopper’s success in getting initiatives via the Division of Planning and Allowing raised suspicions and he confessed when questioned by the FBI, the Honolulu information station reported.

“I caved in beneath stress,” Wong stated in court docket. “My shoppers had been affected by the corruption within the system. I really remorse that I participated.”

After the indictments, the division introduced adjustments, together with hiring an out of doors investigator to look at inner controls. Different actions included requiring purposes for single-family dwellings to be submitted electronically and exploring the elimination of money transactions.

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