Former Union Executive Officer Charged With Embezzlement

HONOLULU – Charles Kimo Brown, 60, a resident of Mililani, Hawaii, was charged yesterday in a federal indictment with two counts of embezzling from a union and two counts of making false entries in the books and records of a union.

The indictment alleges that, from in or around December 2009 through April 2014, Brown was an executive officer of the Hawaii Longshore Division (the "Longshore Division"), which is a labor organization headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Longshore Division is an autonomous division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142. The Longshore Division represents approximately 1,000 stevedores throughout the State of Hawaii. As the Secretary-Treasurer of the Longshore Division, Brown was responsible for the union’s financial matters, among other duties. Compensation for his work came directly from Longshore Division funds in lieu of wages that he would have received from his regular employer. These payments were known as lost time wages. Brown consistently inflated his lost time hours on the weekly vouchers that he signed and submitted for payment from the Longshore Division.

Each embezzlement charge in the indictment carries a maximum term of five years imprisonment, and each false entry charge carries a maximum term of one year imprisonment. The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case is being investigated by the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S Attorney Rebecca A. Perlmutter for the District of Hawaii.