A woman investigators say used a temporary Hawaii driver's license bearing someone else's personal information to withdraw roughly $1,700 from a victim's checking and savings accounts at a Pukalani bank has now been identified, according to the Maui Police Department. The theft happened on July 3 at the American Savings Bank branch inside Pukalani Terrace Center, and police had spent weeks asking the public for help putting a name to the woman caught on surveillance images before announcing the break in the case.
The department shared the update in a public assistance post on Facebook, according to the Maui Police Department, which had described the suspect as a woman in her late 40s, standing about 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-6, weighing roughly 240 pounds, with short wavy dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. Police also noted she was observed walking with a limp. Officers said the woman entered the Pukalani branch, located at 55 Pukalani Street next to Ace Hardware and Foodland, and presented identification resembling a temporary Hawaii driver's license that contained the victim's personal information, per the department's account.
How the Withdrawal Happened
Using that identification, the woman withdrew approximately $1,700 combined from the victim's checking and savings accounts, police said. Investigators did not detail in their public post how the temporary license came into her possession or whether it was altered, leaving open the question of how she obtained a document carrying someone else's real identifying information.
Hawaii's Department of Transportation issues temporary paper driver's licenses to verify identity and lawful status while a permanent plastic REAL ID card is being printed centrally and mailed out weeks later, under state administrative rules. Those paper documents, however, carry fewer of the security features built into the plastic cards, and a January 2026 Transportation Security Administration advisory makes clear they are not accepted as valid primary photo ID at federal checkpoints. That gap between what a paper temporary license can get you at an airport versus a bank counter sits at the center of how this alleged fraud unfolded.
What the Law Says About the Charges
Under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 708-831, theft of money or property valued above $750 counts as theft in the second degree, a Class C felony that carries up to five years in prison and a fine of as much as $10,000, according to Justia Law. Because the $1,700 withdrawal allegedly involved presenting another person's personal information to pull off that theft, it could also qualify as identity theft in the second degree under HRS § 708-839.7 — a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines reaching $25,000, per the same statutory summary. Whether Maui prosecutors have filed formal charges following the woman's identification has not been announced.
American Savings Bank, founded in 1925 and headquartered in Honolulu, operates 36 branches across the islands as Hawaii's third-largest bank and a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, according to Forbes. The Pukalani branch sits inside the Pukalani Terrace Center, a retail hub that also houses Ace Hardware and Foodland and serves as a commercial anchor for Upcountry Maui residents.
Part of a Bigger Pattern
The case lands amid a nationwide surge in identity theft and bank impersonation fraud. Federal Trade Commission data compiled in early 2026 show identity theft complaints topped 1.15 million cases in just the first nine months of 2025, putting the country on pace for an all-time annual record, according to The Motley Fool. Separate FTC reporting from June 2026 found that bank and business impersonation schemes caused nearly $1 billion in reported consumer losses across the U.S. in 2025 alone.
Bank crimes tend to draw a heavy investigative response on Maui. Last year, police offered a $25,000 reward for information after an armed man targeted a bank teller in South Kihei, underscoring how seriously local law enforcement treats financial institution crimes. In this case, no reward has been mentioned, and police say only that the woman shown in the surveillance photograph has now been identified.
The Maui Police Department thanked the public for its assistance in the case and asked anyone with additional information to call its non-emergency line at (808) 244-6400. The department's headquarters sits at 55 Mahalani Street in Wailuku, and anonymous tips can also be routed through Maui Crime Stoppers.
