Maui prosecutor to add a full-time investigator for contractor fraud against Lahaina fire survivors

Mayor Richard Bissen asked the council's chair, Alice Lee, to put forward the bill after the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney saw more reports of post-disaster contractor fraud. It amends the Fiscal Year 2027 budget so the office can go from six investigators to seven, letting Prosecutor Andrew Martin assign one to these cases full time. Budget Director Lesley Milner wrote in an Oct. 15 letter that the position has no immediate cost. Martin told the council it will be paid for with savings.

The request came a few weeks after a joint investigation by Civil Beat and Inside Climate News found that dozens of fire survivors had reported contractors who quit showing up, could not account for big sums they were paid, or left work that had to be ripped out and done again. Officials had not announced action against any contractor. Martin said that coverage, along with a county presentation on contractor fraud at a Lahaina community meeting, brought more victims forward.

Martin's office began passing contractor fraud tips to Maui police in May 2025, later opened its own investigation to speed things up, and is now starting a second one. He told the council each case means deciding whether a dispute is civil or criminal and working through piles of financial records gathered by search warrant and subpoena. A new deputy prosecutor who previously handled white-collar cases as an assistant U.S. attorney starts Nov. 6 and will also work these cases full time.

Tamara Paltin, the council member for Lahaina, said some survivors she knows personally have lost six-figure sums to rebuild contractors. Council member Tom Cook, a general contractor, told Martin he needs 10 investigators.