Indictment Unsealed Charging Wichita Police Lieutenant With Wire Fraud

WICHITA, KAN. - An indictment unsealed here today charges a Wichita police lieutenant with making fraudulent reports so she would be paid for working a part-time job while she was on duty, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Heather D. Bachman, 40, Wichita, Kan., is charged with seven counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a federal investigator.

The indictment alleges Bachman defrauded the Wichita Police Department by working part time for Orion Security Services while on duty and being paid by the police department. She is alleged to have committed wire fraud by emailing timesheets to Orion.

In count four, she is accused of sending an email to Orion making a claim for mileage. The indictment alleges that in fact she used a marked Wichita Police Department patrol car owned by the City of Wichita. In count six, she is accused of electronically reporting to the city that she worked from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on July 2, 2015, which was not true. In count seven, she is accused of electronically filing a tax return to the Kansas Department of Revenue that did not accurately report her earnings from part-time jobs. In count eight, she is accused of making a false statement to an FBI investigator that she never used a Wichita Police Department vehicle to transport a person for her part-time job. In fact, she transported a jewelry company representative and jewelry in her marked patrol car on Feb. 17, 2015.

If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each wire fraud count and a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of making a false statement. The Wichita Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Barnett is prosecuting.

In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.