"America's Most Wanted" case inspires Identity Theft legislation

Rep. James Kunane Tokioka has been closely following the trial of Henry Calucag, aka Hank Jacinto. Tokioka introduced HR198 which requests the Attorney General and the Identity Theft Task Force to improve the process of notarizing documents in order to reduce identity theft. The resolution is based on the true case of John Elwin, a Kauai resident, whose remains were found in the Philippines on May 14, 2006. Investigators believe Elwin may have been the murder victim of Henry Calucag, who allegedly forged a document to assume title of a Kauai property previously owned by Elwin. Calucag is charged with first degree identity theft, first degree theft, and forgery. The case was featured on "America's Most Wanted" in November 2006.

Rep. Tokioka became involved with the case because his parents were neighbors of Elwin. He hopes that HR198 will minimize the crime of identity theft so that no other Hawaii citizen falls victim and pays for such crime as Mr. Elwin did. The trial began on May 18, 2007. The jury began deliberation on June 6th.