A federal grand jury issued a 16-count indictment Friday accusing a Kansas City, Missouri, police officer of taking $300,000 in donations from an anti-crime group and using the money for his own expenses.
The indictment was made public Friday after Aaron McKie, 46, was arrested. McKie is charged with 14 counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering
He worked as a Kansas City police officer for 24 years, most of which were spent in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Section.
According to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri, he was president of Mid-America Crime Free, Inc., from 2009 to 2023. The nonprofit was formed to provide training to people who worked in rental housing and to promote anti-crime programs.
According to the indictment, McKie began to defraud donors in July 2009 and continued until October 2023. An annual golf tournament, Fairways 4 Fuzz, provided most of the money for the anti-crime group.
More than 100 donors have been identified.
McKie allegedly used the nonprofit group's bank account for his personal use.
Here is a breakdown of how the money was spent:
- $125,989 in travel, entertainment, restaurants, and bars
- $57,278 in retail and luxury
- $41,040 in transfers to personal accounts
- $36,874 in cash
- $27,279 pre-2016
- $23,298 in household expenses
- $8,299 in personal tax payments
The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department released a statement on McKie moments after the indictment was announced.
"In September of 2023, our department learned of potential fraud on the part of one of our officers and immediately began an investigation. The alleged fraud involved the financial activity associated with a nonprofit, run by an officer, that assisted with the Crime Free Multi-Housing program," the statement read. "We immediately placed the officer involved on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation. Our investigators subsequently forwarded the results of the investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s office for its review."
This article was originally published by Steve Kaut for Scripps News Kansas City.
