Molokaʻi Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Investment Fraud

Molokai court case. Image by Wendy Osher/Maui Now.

By Wendy Osher

(Update: 12:30 p.m. 8/25/14)

Judge Mollway sentenced David Buchanan to 24 months in federal prison in an investment fraud case.

The sentence includes three years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service.  

Mollway also ordered Buchanan to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $55,000. 

Buchanan was ordered to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on September 29, 2014.

(Original post: 8/25/14)

A Molokaʻi man accused of wire fraud charges will be sentenced today in Honolulu US District Court before Judge Susan Oki Mollway.

David “Kawika” Buchanan, 47, pleaded guilty in May to operating an investment fraud scheme that targeted investors in Hawaii and on the US Mainland.

Instead of investing the money in securities or income-producing venture as represented, court documents indicate the US Attorney alleged Buchanan spent the money on, “personal travel, an online strategy video game called Evony, Western Union wire transfers to an internet girlfriend in the Philippines, online shopping, credit card payments and miscellaneous personal expenses of the defendant and the defendant’s brother.”

The FBI says the activity was committed after Buchanan was released from federal prison where he served a 57-month sentence for an earlier investment fraud scheme in which federal agents say he stole $2.4 million from victims.

Today’s sentencing is set to take place at 10:30 a.m.

Authorities say the statutory maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison.