OFFICER CHARGED IN THEFT OF MONEY FROM DRUG SEIZURE

A Memphis police officer who oversaw claims to return drug money and other
assets seized by the police Vice and Narcotics Unit was charged, along with
two civilians, Thursday of fraudulently claiming $135,000 from two drug
case seizures last year.

The 22-count federal indictment, returned Thursday and unsealed Friday,
charges officer Alandas McGraw and civilians Victor Bowen and Barbara
Patrick with conspiracy, theft, money laundering and mail fraud.

McGraw had the authority and did the paperwork, according to the charges,
to pave the way for the city to cut two settlement checks that were split
among the three.

He is the seventh police officer to face criminal charges since federal and
state investigations of what was formerly known as the Organized Crime Unit
in 1999.

The probes by the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were prompted
by a series of reports in The Commercial Appeal on the alleged misuse of
seized drug funds.

McGraw was relieved of duty with pay in March. At the time, police Deputy
Director James Bolden said a Vice and Narcotics officer he would not
identify was under investigation and would probably be indicted along with
others. That officer was McGraw.

Bolden said then that the investigation was prompted by an internal police
audit using stricter procedures in the wake of a state audit critical of
the unit's accounting practices.

McGraw was the settlement officer for the Vice and Narcotics Unit, a key
position of trust with responsibility to "manage the operation of the
forfeiture process for any assets . . . seized by the Memphis Police
Department," according to the federal charges.

According to the detailed indictment, this is how the scheme worked:

McGraw "looked for cases involving seizures of currency where the person or
persons from whom the currency had been seized had denied knowledge or
ownership of the currency."

He found two - a July seizure of nearly $189,000 in cash taken in a search
at the downtown Greyhound bus station and more than $186,000 in cash taken
from the spare tire of a 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe on Interstate 240 in November.

Through legal paperwork filled out with McGraw's help, Bowen, who gave
addresses in Vaiden, Miss., and Fort Wayne, Ind.,, claimed the cash from
the bus station. Patrick, of Memphis, claimed the cash in the spare tire
and the Tahoe itself.

McGraw then submitted a proposed civil settlement in each case to the
Tennessee Department of Safety. State officials approved and McGraw then
forwarded that approval to an account analyst in the Vice Narcotics Unit
and the police Finance Manager.

Bowen got a check for $48,970 and Patrick got a check for $86,100 from the
city Office of the Comptroller.

Some of the money was used by McGraw to pay off a car loan through the City
of Memphis Credit Union for a 1997 Ford Expedition federal prosecutors now
want to seize.

McGraw made a preliminary court appearance Friday, but it could not be
determined if he had been released on bond.

Bowen and Patrick were not in custody late Friday. They are expected to
turn themselves in Monday, according to the U.S. Marshal's Service.

McGraw was also indicted by a Shelby County grand jury Friday on state
charges of official misconduct, theft of property over $60,000 and theft of
property over $10,000.