Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, a Democrat, was indicted by an Oahu grand jury on Friday on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, and falsifying candidate committee reports. The charges stem from an alleged 2022 scheme, dating to her time as a powerful state lawmaker, to steer state money toward COVID-19 testing contracts during the pandemic. Hawaii News Now reported that legal experts are calling it the biggest bribery scandal in state history.
Luke was one of five people named in the 12-count indictment. The others: Ryan Yamane, a former state representative and ex-director of the Department of Human Services; Tobi Solidum, a businessman and lobbyist; Ford Fuchigami, a Transportation Department official; and Leo Asuncion, a former chair of the state Public Utilities Commission. Luke turned herself in Friday afternoon; her bail was set at $80,000.
Gov. Josh Green did not wait for the case to develop. “The Lieutenant Governor needs to consider formally resigning to address this matter and so that the state of Hawaiʻi can move forward,” Green said in a statement Friday.
The Steakhouse Meeting
According to the indictment, Solidum was working as a lobbyist and consultant to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, which held a state contract to run community COVID-19 testing sites. With those contracts set to expire and dependent on the state approving emergency funding, prosecutors allege, Solidum set out to buy influence.
On Jan. 20, 2022, Luke – then chair of the powerful House Finance Committee and running for lieutenant governor – met Solidum and others in a private dining room at Morton’s Steakhouse. Prosecutors allege Solidum arranged for two $5,000 checks, both made out to “Friends of Sylvia Luke,” to be handed to her in an envelope she placed in her handbag. The pair discussed COVID-19 testing funding and union support for her campaign, according to the indictment – as reported by the NYT.
“By next week, we’ll have 35 – so it will be halfway to our 70,” Solidum told Luke, according to the filings, allegedly referring to an eventual $70,000. “Oh wow,” Luke replied. “That’s terrific.” The day after the dinner, the indictment states, Luke ordered a House committee chair to set up a meeting with government officials to discuss emergency appropriations to the state health department.
Here the fuller record matters. The written indictment makes no direct reference to $35,000 actually changing hands, according to Honolulu Civil Beat – it alleges Solidum promised $35,000 as the first half of the $70,000. And the cash allegations in the case attach not to Luke but to two of her co-defendants: Hawaii News Now reported the indictment does not allege Luke took cash, while Yamane and Fuchigami allegedly took cash payments from Solidum.
That distinction is central to Luke’s defense. She has consistently denied wrongdoing. Luke previously said she did not take “$35,000 in a paper bag,” and acknowledged accepting the two $5,000 checks while denying she ever accepted a $35,000 donation – a sum that would exceed Hawaii’s legal limit for campaign contributions. In a statement months ago, she said she had “never granted special favors to a contributor” and had “prized integrity and honesty above all” throughout her career.