By Jody Callahan
The Commercial Appeal
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis police officer has been charged with computer fraud and lying to FBI officials, authorities announced Wednesday.
Sean Fritz, 36, an MPD officer who lives in Marion, Ark., was charged with two counts of computer fraud and one count of false statements to a federal agency. He was taken into custody Tuesday, officials said.
Fritz is accused of twice accessing the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database to aid a confidential source for illegal purposes.
When interviewed by agents from the FBI, Fritz denied accessing the database to aid the confidential source for any illegal purpose.
According to the indictment, Fritz also accessed MPD’s database. The incidents happened in June and December. Fritz was questioned about them on Dec.16.
This crime was investigated by the Tarnished Badge Task Force, which comprises investigators from the FBI, the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
Assigned to the Tillman Station precinct, Fritz has been with MPD since 1997. He has been relieved of duty with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
Copyright 2012 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.