The state Department of Transportation’s Airports Administrator is on paid leave after being named in a bribery indictment last week.
Ford Fuchigami was one of five people to be indicted by an O‘ahu grand jury on bribery charges, alongside Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, former Rep. Ryan Yamane, former Public Utilities Commission chair Leo Asuncion Jr., and lobbyist Tobi Solidum.
Fuchigami’s charges — use of false statements, conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruction of justice — stem from a $7,000 check he reportedly received from Solidum in Jan. 2022, when Fuchigami was an employee of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. That payment was allegedly connected to Solidum’s efforts to get the Legislature to pass a Covid funding bill; the Senate Ways and Means Committee did so unanimously two months later.
Following that indictment, DOT “will follow its internal administrative policies” regarding Fuchigami, DOT public information officer Russell Pang told Aloha State Daily. While that means DOT will cooperate with any requests from various authorities, it also means the Airports Administrator was been placed on paid department-directed leave for 30 days as of Monday.
“Administrator Fuchigami will be afforded due process before any disciplinary action is taken, if warranted,” Pang told ASD via email.
Fuchigami and his fellow indictees are set to appear in court for an arraignment Thursday. Four of the five — Fuchigami, Luke, Yamane and Asuncion — have posted their respective bails, while Solidum has reportedly fled to the Philippines.
A bench warrant for Solidum is pending, and he is to be held without bail should he be apprehended.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
