Filipino in Hawaii charged with $1.2M theft from his church

An Oahu grand jury indicted Martin Zialcita for allegedly stealing more than $1.2 million from the Olivet Baptist Church in Makiki. TWITTER

HONOLULU – An Oahu grand jury indicted a Filipino man for allegedly stealing more than $1.2 million from his church.

Prosecutors accused Martin Zialcita, 45, of stealing the money by using church credit cards to pay for his own personal expenses, while he was an office manager at the Olivet Baptist Church.

Zialcita allegedly stole money from the church from 2013 to 2019. Prosecutors said he was able to conceal the alleged thefts by providing the church with phony bank statements, Hawaii News Now reported.

Zialcita was also charged with using a computer to commit theft, which ca. That’s a new law that carries a mandatory 20-year sentence upon conviction, according to a new law.

In May 2019, he allegedly took $110,000 from an Olivet investment account at Charles Schwab and digitally transferred it to his own account at the Bank of Hawaii. A warrant has been issued for Zialcita’s arrest.