A Hawaiʻi County employee who pleaded guilty for his role in a bribery scheme worth millions told a federal judge that no affordable housing stock was lost as a result of the plot – a claim the judge resoundingly dismissed when sentencing him to nearly four years in federal prison last week.
Alan Rudo, a former housing specialist on the Big Island, sought or received $1.8 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for ensuring lucrative affordable housing agreements that went to three companies controlled by Rudo and his partners. Those companies never built a single affordable unit.
At his sentencing, prosecutors explained how the county employee was the linchpin of the plan who pocketed the “lion’s share of the proceeds.”
“Mr. Rudo conspired to corrupt Hawaiʻi’s government to line his own pockets,” Mohammad Khatib, the federal prosecutor, said.
In doing so, Khatib said, Rudo denied the public the benefits of affordable housing, a particular blow in a county that has long lacked enough affordable housing.
