Kahapea reported heavy gambling wins and losses

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 10:41 a.m.

The papers filed Monday by prosecutors show that Michael Kahapea spent a lot of time and money in Las Vegas during that period, traveling to the gambling mecca nearly every month.

The papers show that Kahapea reported to the Internal Revenue Service that he had about $770,000 in gambling wins and about $970,000 in losses in 1995, and about $700,000 in wins and $800,000 in losses the following year. During this time, Kahapea was being paid about $38,000 a year as a city property manager.

The records also show that Kahapea told his tax preparer he borrowed money to support his gambling habit and owed money to casinos.

Kahapea and others are accused of defrauding the city of about $6 million in city relocation funds related to the Ewa Villages housing project.

Kahapea is seeking a change of venue, saying he cannot get a fair trial in Honolulu because of extensive publicity about the case. A hearing on the request will be held later this month.

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