2 Men Indicted in ‘Wonder Blunder’ Concert Fiasco at U. of Hawaii

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted two men on charges related to a sham benefit concert at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in which campus officials spent $200,000 in a failed attempt to bring the Motown star Stevie Wonder to the campus. The university was forced to call off the event after officials learned that the singer had never agreed to perform, and the money went missing. The debacle ensnared the system’s president, M.R.C. Greenwood, though she remains in office. Prosecutors charged Marc Hubbard, 44, with wire fraud, and Sean Barriero, also 44, with offenses related to transporting money taken by fraud. Federal officials said no one from the university was involved in criminal wrongdoing.


In June 2012, UH transferred $200,000 to one of Barriero’s accounts in Florida, $120,000 of which Barriero dispersed to Hubbard, who spent all of it on personal and business expenses unrelated to the concert. If convicted, Hubbard faces up to 20 years in prison and Barriero up to 10 years.

Out of the $200,000 UH lost, more than $27,000 was spent to purchase a black 2010 Mercedes Benz SUV, which was seized by the FBI in Florida.

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