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HPD: Con Artist In Custody

Honolulu Man Accused Of Racking Up $26K Hotel Bill

POSTED: 8:58 pm HST September 1, 2010
UPDATED: 9:36 pm HST September 1, 2010

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Felix Tigilau, 25, apparently walked into the Kahala Hotel and Resort with nothing but charm.

Claiming he was an international investor, sources close to the investigation said Tigilau managed to convince the front desk they had lost his reservation and smooth talked his way into a $2,000 dollar-a-night room.

From there, sources said Tigilau racked up lunch and dinner tabs of $300 and more at the hotel.

He apparently even invited the president of the Kahala hotel to dine with him and charged the $500 bill to his room. Tigilau was also using the hotel's limousine to take him to play golf.

It was at the Ted Makalena golf course where Tigilau was arrested Saturday and the scam ended.

The owner of the stolen credit card Tigilau is accused of using reported a fraudulent transaction at a jewelry store at the hotel and notified police.

Tigilau apparently has multiple aliases: claiming he is a Samoan prince, on one website he posted he's the operations manager of a company called CNE Enterprise. When he was arrested, he told police he was a secret agent.

But according to court documents, Tigilau is a convicted felon. He was arrested in 2008 for stealing from the armored car company he was working for as a guard. In July of this year, he was ordered to repay the company more than $5,000 in restitution.

Tigilau is now custody, unable to post his $35,000 bail on one count of credit card fraud.

Tigilau's family said they're not surprised at his arrest. They said they haven't spoken to him in a couple of years and are disappointed and embarrassed with these latest charges.

KITV contacted the Kahala Hotel, but did not hear back from them.

Sources said there may be multiple victims because police found stacks of receipts and invoices in Tigilau's hotel room at the time of his arrest.

Anyone who thinks they may have been scammed by this man, or has any information that might be useful in this case, should call the Honolulu Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit at (808) 529-3115.

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