ATG NEWS RELEASE: School assistant indicted for stealing more than $37,000 in lunch monies
Posted on Sep 9, 2016 in Latest Department News
HONOLULU – Attorney General Doug Chin announced that an Oahu grand jury indicted Ada T. Martin yesterday for stealing $37,156.31 during 2012-2014 from the school lunch program at Aliamanu Elementary School by manipulating the meal tracker computer program.
Martin is a 51 year old Honolulu resident with a prior 1993 conviction for theft in the first degree. For her prior conviction, Martin was sentenced to 5 years probation, 100 hours of community service, and payment of $27,382 in restitution. Yesterday’s indictment charges her with first degree theft and the use of a computer in the commission of a separate crime.
Attorney General Chin said, “This convicted felon was hired by the Department of Education 20 years ago, and for the past 8 years was in charge of the lunch program at Aliamanu. Kids paid for these school lunches. According to the State, she then pocketed that money.”
Bail has been set at $11,000 and a bench warrant will be issued for Martin’s arrest.
Theft in the first degree (section 708-830.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS)) is a class B felony, punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Use of a computer in the commission of a separate crime (section 708-893, HRS) is a class A felony, because the underlying crime is a class B felony. It is punishable by up to twenty years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Martin is presumed innocent unless and until she is found guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
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For more information, contact:
Joshua A. Wisch
Special Assistant to the Attorney General
(808) 586-1284