A Hilo woman has been officially charged in connection with a case of credit card fraud. The Hawaii Island police named 23-year-old Alohi Kaupu-Grace of Hilo as the perpetrator behind the unauthorized credit card transaction, originally reported on April 15.
Following up on a May 2 victim's complaint about a fraudulent charge that was in excess of $750, detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section launched an investigation. They managed to slowly track down and single out Kaupu-Grace, linking her to the misconduct which she had carried out by exploiting her prior employment access to obtain personal information.
In an update provided by Hawai'i County police, it was reported that after extensive discussions with the County Prosecutor’s Office, on May 23, Kaupu-Grace has been slapped with several charges, including second-degree theft, second-degree identity theft, unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, and fraudulent use of a credit card. Consequently, her bail was pegged at a substantial $8,000 sum.
The detectives seem not to be quite done with this case yet, as there are ongoing financial investigations that involve Kaupu-Grace and could potentially unveil further illicit activities. The police have issued a call to action for anyone in possession of relevant information to proactively engage Detective Amy Omaya of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section, either via the police department's provided contact number or through the email [email protected], as revealed in a Nixle alert from the police department.
