A former City and County of Honolulu insider is accused of turning a program meant to feed Oʻahu residents into a costly mess, with prosecutors saying an alleged scheme left the Hawai‘i Foodbank holding the bag for roughly $800,000 in unreimbursed food purchases.
Charges and allegations
State prosecutors have identified the defendant as Dexter Kishida, who previously worked as a food security and sustainability program manager in the city’s Office of Economic Revitalization. According to charging documents, Kishida allegedly persuaded the Hawai‘i Foodbank to purchase and distribute about $800,000 in food to Oʻahu residents between December 2021 and August 2023, with the understanding that the city would reimburse those costs.
Prosecutors say that instead of legitimate follow-through, Kishida is accused of creating or altering a city purchase order and fabricating emails to make it appear reimbursements were being processed, leaving the nonprofit unpaid. Those allegations are detailed by KITV.
Charges and penalties
Authorities have charged Kishida with theft in the first degree, forgery in the second degree and official misconduct. Under Hawaii law, theft in the first degree is defined as a class B felony and forgery in the second degree is a class C felony. Class B felonies carry a maximum indeterminate sentence of up to 10 years and fines up to $25,000, while class C felonies can carry up to five years and fines up to $10,000, according to the Hawaii Revised Statutes and state court guidance. See the theft statute on Justia and the forgery statute on Justia, along with state court materials on felony classes and penalties.
Officials respond
In a statement to KITV, Attorney General Anne Lopez framed the case as a straightforward matter of public trust. “When public officials allegedly misuse their positions and provide false information that causes significant financial harm, we have a responsibility to investigate thoroughly and pursue accountability through the criminal justice system,” she said.
Lopez added that her office will keep pushing the case forward as the investigation develops and as the evidence warrants, signaling that prosecutors are in it for the long haul if the facts support the charges.
What happens next
Kishida has been arrested and charged, and the case is now in the hands of the Department of the Attorney General’s Criminal Justice Division, which handles prosecutions involving state or county employees. From here, the case will move through arraignment and pretrial hearings in the First Circuit.
The Attorney General’s office has said it will provide public updates when appropriate as the investigation and any court proceedings continue, in line with the department’s usual public guidance. For background on the division and its jurisdiction, see the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General.
Why it matters
The Hawai‘i Foodbank serves as the state’s Feeding America affiliate and distributes millions of pounds of food each year through a network of hundreds of partner agencies. An alleged $800,000 shortfall is not pocket change in that world and could mean less food available for pantries, school programs and other community partners that rely on those shipments.
Feeding America and local reporting describe the Foodbank’s central role in Hawaii’s hunger relief system and the scale of its monthly distributions across Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Feeding America provides additional context on how critical that work is to the state’s broader food security network.
