Honolulu Woman, Kathy Funtila Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Identity Theft
Kathy Funtila, 46, a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, was sentenced yesterday to 119 months in federal prison for defrauding multiple Oahu businesses of $558,633.71 over the course of 5 years.
According to information presented in court, Funtila pled guilty in August 2018 to bank fraud and identity theft offenses that occurred while she was an accounting manager for two Oahu businesses: SMAC Hawaii (SMAC) and Pacific Rim Defense, LLC (PRD). While employed as the accounting manager at SMAC, Funtila submitted false documents to Hawaii National Bank to obtain withdrawals from SMAC’s lines of credit with Hawaii National Bank. On multiple occasions, Funtila submitted draw request forms to Hawaii National Bank that purported to be signed by the owner of SMAC. In reality, the draw request forms were not signed or approved by the owner of SMAC and contained signatures of the owner that Funtila knew had been copied from another document. After Hawaii National Bank processed the draw requests, it then transferred funds from Hawaii National Bank to a bank account controlled by SMAC. Funtila then embezzled money from SMAC’s bank accounts. While she was the accounting manager at PRD, Funtila made unauthorized charges on her company credit card and misrepresented the purpose for which the credit card charges were being made in PRD’s accounting records. Funtila also used another employee’s company credit card, without their permission, to book a $1,707 stay at the Waikiki Shore resort for one of her family members.
Save money on the move and invest it into something more fun photo/ Rudy and Peter Skitterians
U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi imposed a 119 month sentence, noting that Funtila’s conduct was egregious, repetitive, and had a devastating impact on the owners of SMAC. Funtila was also ordered to pay restitution of $115,362.25, and to serve a 5 year term of supervision following her release.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar.
