Hawaii man pleads guilty to bank, wire fraud involving false COVID relief claims

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Hawaii resident indicted on charges of filing $458,597 in fraudulent COVID relief claims pleaded guilty to several counts in federal court in Honolulu on Monday.

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Justin Craige Likout, 51, admitted to a total of eight counts of bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was indicted on 24 counts in October.

Court documents allege Likout stole the identities of two people in order to secure business loans.

He is also accused of establishing businesses to submit fraudulent claims through the Paycheck Protection Program during pandemic shutdowns.

The wire fraud charges also include allegations that Likout accepted money for tables and other items sold on Facebook Marketplace that were never delivered to buyers.

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According to the indictment, Likout used multiple aliases to commit the crimes, including “Jaycee Thorpe,” “JC Thorpe,” “Justin Thorpe,” “John Pyzell,” “Jaycee Pyzell,” and “Jon Pizel.”

Identities used for the Marketplace sales included JC Thorpe, Hoohui Ohana Millworks, Hale Me Ka Malama, Hale Malama, and Aina Akua.

He faces up to 50 years in prison for the charges. Sentencing is scheduled for December 15.

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