The FBI is investigating claims that American Savings Bank officials tried to cover up theft, including one case in which a bank employee allegedly took several hundred thousand dollars from a 91-year-old customer.

FBI agents interviewed the bank's former security director Bert Corniel yesterday after he charged in a lawsuit that the bank asked him to stop reporting fraud cases to federal and state officials, said John Perkin, Corniel's attorney.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Johnson, who prosecutes federal crimes in Hawai'i, said yesterday he could not confirm or deny that an investigation is under way. A person at the Honolulu FBI office said late yesterday the bureau had no immediate comment.

The bank said the charges are false and it is cooperating with the FBI investigation.

"Although we cannot comment on the investigation, we can say that we have and will continue to cooperate and provide investigators with all the relevant information as it is requested," said American Savings Bank in a written statement. "Mr. Corniel's concerns ... were thoroughly investigated and found to be without merit."

Corniel and bank customer Ada Lim, 91, alleged in separate lawsuits filed on Aug. 2 that a manager at a bank branch took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lim.

Lim deposited more than $600,000 into her American Savings account in 2004, only to have most of the money siphoned out of her account by the bank employee, who was helping to manage Lim's finances, the lawsuits allege. The bank employee opened an account with Bank of Hawaii and deposited various sums from Lim totalling $304,000, according to Lim's lawsuit. The bank employee bought a condominium using $110,000 of Lim's money, the suit claims.

Corniel said in January 2005, when he was investigating the Lim case, the bank employee confessed to him that she took the money. American Savings officials said the transfer was a loan from Lim to the employee, Corniel said.

Corniel said American Savings officials told him not to report the fraud as required by law to federal regulators and law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Several American Savings employees went to Lim's house in February 2005 with gifts and to get her to sign a document exonerating the bank, according to the lawsuits.

$200,000 SHORT

Lyle Hosoda, Lim's attorney, said the bank returned most of Lim's money but still owes her about $200,000. No criminal charges have been filed against the bank employee, but Hosoda said an Internal Revenue Service investigation of the employee is under way.

Craig Togami, American Savings marketing and communications director, said yesterday the bank would not respond to specific allegations in the two lawsuits. Togami said he could not comment beyond what it said in the written statement.

"American Savings Bank believes that this entire lawsuit is without merit," the statement said. "There are many factual errors in the complaint. ... We look forward to telling our side of the story more fully at the appropriate time."

The bank's statement also cast doubt on the motivation of Corniel. In June, Corniel resigned from the bank, saying he was pushed out.

"To understand what truly happened, there are some facts to keep in mind: Security today goes well beyond physical security, and so the bank decided to emphasize protection of security of information systems and computers; Mr. Corniel, whose background is in physical security, was not selected for the newly created position of VP Security; Mr. Corniel voluntarily resigned after repeated efforts by the Bank to have him stay," the statement said.

PRESIDENT IMPLICATED

Corniel's lawsuit also charges that Constance Lau, the president of the bank, asked him to "recharacterize" the bank's fraud losses as "potential losses" in his reports to federal regulators.

Lau became chief executive of American Savings' parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., in May. Togami said Lau was traveling and could not be reached for comment. A person who answered Lau's home phone also said she was off island and couldn't be reached.

FBI agents seized Corniel's computer at American Savings' downtown headquarters on Friday in search of e-mails and other electronic records, which could demonstrate Corniel's allegations, according to Perkin, Corniel's attorney.

Corniel is a retired Honolulu police officer and a former investigator with the city prosecutor's office who was hired as American Savings' security director in 2000.

In his lawsuit, Corniel mentions a second incident, involving two bank tellers and a customer who allegedly defrauded the bank of $256,000 in April and May 2005. Corniel said he filed reports with federal regulators and law enforcement officials, including the FBI, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

But bank officials recharacterized the losses as expenses or charge-offs and his immediate supervisor told Corniel that his filings with federal authorities could cost him his job, the lawsuit claimed.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.