PITTSBURGH -- A federal grand jury indicted recently ousted Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper this afternoon for conspiracy to take public money he allegedly laundered through the Greater Pittsburgh Police FCU.
The indictment accuses Harper, 60, of working with others to send public money to secret accounts at the credit union and tapping the accounts for personal use, including purchases and meals.
Harper was also charged with income tax evasion for failing to pay taxes from 2008 through 2011 when he earned $475,000.
"These are serious charges," said U.S. Attorney David Hickton. "The allegations represent the worst kind of public corruption. These monies belong to the taxpayers and they have been taken by theft.”
The indictment lists 14 checks meant for city accounts that went to credit union accounts labeled “Special Events” and “IPF.” The largest check topped $10,000.
Authorities said Harper used two of eight debit cards from the credit union to withdraw cash and buy perfume, food and alcohol, an oven upgrade, a ladder, movies, a gift card and a 32-inch LCD TV.
The charges come a month after the FBI raided records at the police credit union and at the police department as part of the investigation. Chief Harper was fired the following week.
The indictment says Sandy Ganster, manager of the police bureau's Office of Personnel and Finance, told authorities under a grant of immunity that she diverted $25,000 to $35,000 in public money over three to four years into a secret account Harper ordered her to open at the credit union. The money came from payments that businesses, including bars, restaurants, strip clubs, construction firms and sports teams, made to hire off-duty police officers, often to provide security.
Harper ordered debit cards from the credit union account, issued in the names of eight people, including Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's bodyguards, according to authorities. City officials said they were investigating spending from the cards, and the FBI made copies of account records at the credit union.
