Former Kamehameha employee indicted in $20,000 theft, computer fraud case

A grand jury indictment has pushed a long-running Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i fraud allegation into a more public legal phase, with prosecutors saying former employee Zachary Heltz used school purchasing cards to make payments through PayPal to entities under his control over nearly 2 1/2 years.

The indictment charges Heltz, 32, with first-degree theft and first-degree computer fraud. It alleges the conduct ran from Dec. 8, 2020, through June 2, 2023, and says the loss was more than $20,000, the amount that meets Hawaii’s threshold for first-degree theft. A bench warrant issued with the indictment set bail at $500,000 and ordered Heltz to have no contact with 17 specific people, including current school leaders and staff members.

The case carries broader significance for Big Island readers because it centers on controls inside one of Hawai‘i Island’s most prominent educational institutions. Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i previously told police in an internal report that more than $360,000 had been stolen from the Kea‘au campus. That earlier figure was far higher than the amount listed in the indictment, underscoring how the matter appears to have involved a wider internal review before the criminal case narrowed to the charges now before the court.

Kamehameha Schools said it filed a police report after an internal investigation uncovered alleged misconduct. In 2023, headmaster M. Kāhealani Nae‘ole-Wong told families the matter was uncovered by a “comprehensive internal investigation” led by school attorneys, and said the school was reviewing its systems, practices and policies. The institution later said it had strengthened its practices and systems while continuing to cooperate with prosecutors.

The school also described the alleged conduct as an “egregious betrayal of trust,” language that reflects how seriously the institution is treating the case. Kamehameha Schools, built around the legacy of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, holds a special place on Hawai‘i Island, and any breakdown in its financial safeguards reaches beyond a single employee. Students, donors and staff all depend on purchasing systems that are supposed to prevent unauthorized payments and catch misuse early.

Police previously said Heltz had held several positions at Kamehameha Schools and had most recently been a teacher before resigning earlier in 2023. Under Hawai‘i law, first-degree computer crime covers the use of a computer in the commission of another crime, and state lawmakers have said computer-enabled theft is a growing problem. The indictment does not decide guilt, but it does raise a harder question for the school and its community: how a scheme of this length could move through internal systems before it was found.