For months, a man walked into some of the country’s biggest technology and cryptocurrency conferences, told organizers he was a senior state government executive, and took the stage.
Nobody reportedly checked his credentials. Nobody stopped him.
That changed this week when Hawaii’s Department of the Attorney General issued a public warning identifying Iqbal Khowaja as someone who has been falsely presenting himself as the Chief Technology Officer of the State of Hawaii – a title he has never held and has no authority to claim.
“Misrepresentation of state leadership is unacceptable and we urge organizers and the public to verify credentials before granting speaking platforms or trust,” stated Hawaii Chief Information Officer Christine Sakuda, in the public warning.
“This individual falsely claiming to be the state of Hawai‘i’s Chief Technology Officer has never been employed by the state or affiliated with the Office of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS),” added Sakuda.
Khowaja was reportedly at The Venetian in Las Vegas, presenting himself to the Bitcoin 2026 conference crowd as a top Hawaii government official. It wasn’t a one-time stunt – he had been impersonating a state official at other national conferences, keeping the same false persona across social media profiles. How many events he attended, and how many people he lied to along the way, are still in question.
The Bitcoin 2026 conference, held April 27–29, drew thousands of attendees from finance and technology – and, as The Dallas Express previously reported, at least one celebrity appearance from rapper Afroman.
A tip submitted by a conference attendee altered authorities.
“We were alerted to this individual’s false claims and quickly took steps to verify the information and respond,” said Tom Alipio, chief of the Investigations Division in the Department of the Attorney General. “When someone falsely presents themselves as a Department of the Attorney General government official, it raises serious concerns about fraud and public deception. Our priority is making sure the public is aware, takes appropriate caution and reports suspicious conduct before others are misled.”
Before Bitcoin 2026, Khowaja had reportedly appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, where he even gave a speech on artificial intelligence, according to Spectrum News Hawaii. This electronics show is one of the largest consumer conferences in the world.
Since Hawaii has published its alert this week, state officials have not yet determined whether a crime has been committed. Under Hawaii’s current law, impersonating a public servant with the intent to deceive is a misdemeanor.
The threshold in question is whether Khowaja’s conference appearances and social media representations crossed from inflated self-promotion into legally recognizable fraud – particularly if any attendees, investors, or organizations acted on the assumption that they were engaging with a legitimate representative of Hawaii’s state government.
Hawaii’s attorney general’s office is asking anyone from the public who believes they were targeted or misled by Khowaja to contact local law enforcement or reach the department directly at [email protected].
