Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-04

may dow up lnCO a major SCanoa
Involving wholesale theft and mis-.
use of Navy property jiggled threat
eningly in Honolulu Police Court to-
day.
Two men arraigned before Judge
Harry Steiner were fined $500 each
and another received a 90-day jail
sentence. They were charged with
petty embezzlement Of luxury goods
belonging to naval activities In Pearl
Harbor.
The charges were brought by
Comdr. Carl Stockholm, Chicago
businessman and sportsman, now
serving as senior oficer OF the Naval
Shore Patrol here.
Comdr. Stockholm said that other
arrests and trials may be expected
to follow soon. Some ramiflcations
Of the investigation may prove to be
Of sensational caliber. involving
hundreds of thousands OF dollars of
illegal diversion of naval property
and misuse of naval shipping and
3riorities to supply civilian COM
.nerciai enterprise, authorities said.
Investigation Pushed.
The investigation which has been
proceeding for several weeks centers
around the submarine base ships
service store in Pearl Harbor, a
naval establishment furnishing lux
ury goods and necessities to Navy
personnel.
1t was recently reported that the
store. largest Of its kind in the
Pacific. conducts a gross business
of $780, 900 monthly.
The men brought before Judge
Steiner today were civilian en-
ployes of naval activities. Harry
Leong, 90. Chinese, received the Jail
sentence for embezzlement of two
bottles of whisky from the subma-
rine base Officers Club.
Alexander Kan, 81, was charged
with embezzlement of Is phono-
graph records, five albums of re-
cordings and other items.
He was fined. as was Albert Lau,
Is. who was charged with embezzle-
ment of small items, including
shirts. toothpaste, razor blades and
books.
Charges that Raymond Wal Chew
Bee stole fountain pens and pen
ellis worth $1,000 from the sub base
store were set for hearing on May
81. Bee was assistant manager OF
the store.
Comdr. Stockholm revealed that
numerous confessions of other CIV
ilian employees already have been
obtained. He said persons under
investigation have admitted out
right theft Of thousands of dol
lars worth of goods. including ex-
pensive perfumes, wrist watches,
diamond and star sapphire rings,
fountain pens, knives, glassware,
books, photograph records, toilet
articles, clothing, razors, women's
purses. dolls and dozens of other
items.
Some Loot Recovered.
Several thousand dollars worth OF
loot has been recovered from the
homes Of persons under investiga-
ton and is now impounded in
Comdr. Stockholm's office. Indeed,
his office is so damned with gleam-
ing bottles Of expensive perfumes,
diamonds and jewelry, and bulkier
but less expensive goods. that it Is
difficult to find place to stand.
1t looks like Christmas eve in
fairyland.
Objects of investigation include a
Honolulu gift shop whose part
owner was an employe of the naval
store and as such was paid S430
monthly. The person involved and
his partners opened the store while
he was employed by the Navy and
it is believed he used his Navy con-
nection to obtain scarce luxury
items for himself, the investigators
charge.
This entrepreneur last year re-
ported an income of $4,000 from
his gift shop in addition to his
Navy salary, Comdr Stockholm said
In addition to the civilians under
investigation, Comdr Stockholm
said 10 naval personnel have been
and tried under charges
ranging from deck court to general
court-martial seriousness. Eighteen
were convicted.
Three men once connected with
the store, one a naval officer, may
be brought back here from other
duties for questioning and possible
trial, Comdr Stockholm declared.
Comdr. Stockholm reported that
he possesses documentary evidence
that a leading figure in an important
Honolulu firm made buying trip to