2026-25 HONOLULU CAREGIVER ENTERS PLEA FOR ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A PATIENT IN CARE
Posted on May 8, 2026 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
STATE OF HAWAIʻI
KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI
JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA
ANNE LOPEZ
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LOIO KUHINA
HONOLULU CAREGIVER ENTERS PLEA FOR ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A PATIENT IN CARE
News Release 2026-25
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2026
HONOLULU – Care home operator Ederlina Manzano has pleaded no contest to the criminal charge of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent Person. The plea was filed on April 27, 2026.
The charge stemmed from Manzano’s failure to timely report an adverse event and obtain appropriate medical care for an 87-year-old patient who resided in Manzano’s community care foster family home (CCFFH). The patient sustained a head injury while under Manzano’s care. As a caregiver and owner of a CCFFH, Manzano had a duty to verbally report to the patient’s case management agency any change in patient’s condition requiring emergency treatment within 24 hours.
Manzano requested that the court grant a deferred acceptance of her no contest plea. The court placed Manzano on deferment for a period of one year, ordered her to pay a $1,000 fine and to submit a formal apology letter to the patient’s family.
“It has been said that ‘the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.’ Patients in community care foster family homes are, without a doubt, some of the most vulnerable members of our community and we entrust the caregivers in these facilities with ensuring that patients are safe, healthy and well cared for. Any mistreatment or failure of care involving these patients will not be tolerated, and any caregivers responsible will be held accountable by this unit,” said Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Director Landon M.M. Murata.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The MFCU is a specialized unit within the Department of the Attorney General charged with conducting criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions involving: (1) fraud in the administration of the Medicaid Program; (2) provider fraud against the Medicaid Program; and (3) abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries and residents of board and care facilities throughout the state of Hawai‘i. The MFCU receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,929,468 for federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $976,489 for FY 2026, is funded by the state of Hawai‘i.
This case was prosecuted by MFCU Deputy Attorney General Lisa N. De Mello. Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent Person is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000.
Suspected Medicaid fraud, abuse or neglect can be reported through the Department of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit online complaint portal at ag.hawaii.gov/cjd/medicaid-fraud-control-unit.
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