Kauai Woman Arrested by FBI on Embezzlement Charges

Robert Allan Jones, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced today the arrest of KERRY K. HIGASHI, a 31-year-old female resident of Kapa’a (Kauai), Hawaii, on charges of embezzlement from a federal credit union.

According to a federal grand jury indictment, HIGASHI was an employee of the Kauai Teachers Federal Credit Union and engaged in an extended scheme to embezzle money from two customer accounts during the period of October 7, 2009 through May 30, 2011. The indictment alleges that the total amount embezzled was $24,721.

After failing to appear in court following acceptance of a criminal summons, HIGASHI was arrested without incident this morning by Honolulu FBI special agents with assistance from the Kauai Police Department. HIGASHI was transported to Honolulu where she is expected to have her initial appearance in U.S. District Court later today.

The statutory maximum penalty for embezzlement from a federal credit union (Title 18, United Stated Code, Section 657) is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.