Can you spare a $100.00?

[HiloJulie]

What does not make sense here:

"William Kaipo Jr., 32, of Hilo was arrested back on May 13 after police say he tried to pass a fake $100 bill at a business in the 700 block of Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo."

"On May 14, detectives executed the search warrant on Kaipo's car and found a trove of evidence, including numerous counterfeit $100 bills, legitimate $1 bills, various "washed" bills, instructions for producing counterfeit currency, a color printer, and counterfeit detection tools."

"Kaipo was formally charged on May 14 with four counts of first-degree theft and one count of fourth-degree theft. His bail was set at $35,000. He made his initial court appearance on May 15 in South Hilo District Court."

"Based on the investigation, Big Island police say they believe Kaipo played a large role in distributing counterfeit money within the community. And they are urging the public to be on the lookout, as it is possible that some of the counterfeit bills may still be in circulation."



And now this:

"A Big Island judge dismissed the case against 32-year-old William Kaipo Jr. after the prosecution said it was not prepared to proceed with the case."

https://www.kitv.com/news/charges-dismis...ef954.html

Must be really busy down at the prosecutor's office.

[terracore]

This case seemed weird from the beginning. I thought that investigating counterfeiting of US currency fell under the responsibility of the Secret Service?

[kalianna]

They werenʻtlacking evidence. He had a stash of 100ʻs, instructions on how to "wash" money and a color printer.

[HiloJulie]

"...investigating counterfeiting of US currency fell under the responsibility of the Secret Service?"

That's exactly what I was thinking. 

Did HPD maybe stumble by accident into an ongoing investigation by the Feds?

Dismissing the charges is the "face save" out - without tipping off the suspect?

[leilanidude]

The feds should have been brought in immediately. This is not a state or local level offense.

[Obie]

"Deputy Prosecutor Lucas Burns moved for the dismissal on Friday, explaining to the court that the state wasn’t ready to proceed with a preliminary hearing against Kaipo.

Kaipo’s court-appointed defense counsel, Christopher Bridges, did not object to the motion to dismiss the charges without prejudice, which leaves prosecutors the authority to refile the charges at a later date."

There is a deadline that they couldn't meet so they dismissed them and will refile when they are ready to proceed.
They could also present their evidence to a Grand Jury and skip the preliminary hearing.

[HiloJulie]

Just caught this one. 

They "rearrested" him on Friday and as usual, "Against objections from prosecutors, a Hilo judge granted supervised release to a suspected counterfeiter."

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/06/08...ney-maker/

And then now we have a BOLO for another user of the same counterfeit money:

https://bigislandnow.com/2024/06/08/hawa...-100-bill/

Still, why no Feds??