HONOLULU — A 44-year-old woman convicted of bilking Native Hawaiians out of nearly $468,000 has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Mahealani Ventura-Oliver also was ordered to pay $424,534.68 in restitution to victims.
Federal prosecutors say Ventura-Oliver was part of a group that held weekly Maui seminars involving Hawaiian history, culture and royal land patents.
For fees of $1,500 to $10,000, the group claimed it could provide “bonds” and other documents to pay off mortgages and prevent collection efforts.
Many who paid lost their homes or had to renegotiate loans.
Ventura-Oliver was convicted in October 2013 of conspiracy and mail fraud offenses in the debt elimination scheme.