Arizona DPS Officer Still Not Caught After Stealing $9 Million

Police officer accused of scamming and other criminal activities still not apprehended despite reward.

By Xan Johnson, Marketing –

Frederick Arias, a former Arizona law enforcement officer, was recently arrested for being involved in a fraud scheme totaling around nine million dollars. He had previously served as a patrol officer and detective for over 20 years in various locations throughout Arizona. The FBI has recently released news claiming that Arias had been scamming various investors from 2015 to 2017. He told them about a special Christian humanitarian organization called the Joshua Project, adding tailor-made details according to each victim’s interests. They were all promised guaranteed profits, but Arias used the money for personal finances or wired it overseas.
About a year ago, Arias was caught and charged with a whole pile of criminal behavior including money laundering, conspiracy, forgery and theft. He was arrested, but after being released on bond, he never again showed up to his court hearings. Adding even more crimes to his case, like unlawful flight to avoid persecution, the FBI is now offering a $25,000 reward to anyone with information that could help get him arrested.

While the end of this story still needs to be told, criminal fraud still goes on amidst our law enforcement in the U.S. Because law enforcement officers are usually trusted individuals, we don’t often think that there is a need to question them for fraudulent behavior, but this mindset only allows it to occur more often. Lie detection methods like the polygraph can be used when hiring law enforcement, but it is not reasonable to systematically test all officers at short enough intervals using a polygraph to prevent crimes like these. There does exist another product that could be used to seek out criminal behavior so that it can be stopped before it gets out of hand.

EyeDetect® by Converus® is a new technology that can determine if an individual is lying by tracking pupil dilations that occur when they lie. A simple test could be put together to question law enforcement officers about many illegal activities including fraud, drug use, sexual assault and the like. If any of the officers are participating in these activities, involuntary pupil dilations will alert the system and their tests will come back showing deceptive behavior. Lie detection is not new, but EyeDetect offers the same service in a faster, less-intrusive and more affordable way. The test is only 30 minutes long and can yield 85% accuracy. Imagine how much crime among government workers could be stopped if periodic tests such as these are put in place. Even the knowledge that a worker could be tested for illegal activity might deter them from doing it. While the case of Arias remains unfinished, we can already begin to defend against further crimes.

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