Kansas City Chiefs superfan indicted on bank robbery, money laundering charges
By Homero De la Fuente, CNN
(CNN) — A federal grand jury indicted a man known as a Kansas City Chiefs superfan, who goes by “ChiefsAholic” on social media, with robbing several banks and laundering the money through casinos, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri announced.
Xaviar Michael Babudar, 29, was charged Wednesday with 19 counts, including three counts of armed robbery, one count of bank theft, 11 counts of money laundering and four counts of transporting stolen property across state lines, prosecutors say.
Babudar, who dressed in a gray wolf costume in Chiefs clothing at games, is accused of using money from bank and credit union robberies over nine months last year to attend home and away games, according to the indictment.
Babudar pleaded not guilty to the indictment, CNN affiliate KMBC reported.
A criminal complaint filed against Babudar in May linked him to six robberies. He is accused of stealing more than $845,000 and of involvement in two attempted robberies, according to authorities. The indictment filed on Wednesday replaced the original federal criminal complaint from May.
He is also accused of laundering the stolen money by purchasing and redeeming more than $1 million in chips from casinos in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois, an affidavit filed in support of the complaint revealed.
On December 16, 2022, Babudar was charged in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, with robbing a credit union and was released on bond in February.
Months before his arrest, Babudar allegedly used some of the stolen money to place wagers at an Illinois sportsbook, including two separate $5,000 bets for the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LVII and for Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes to win the game’s Most Valuable Player award.
After the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory, and Mahomes was named MVP of the game, Babudar was mailed a $100,000 check in March, according to authorities.
Babudar cut his ankle monitor days later and fled Oklahoma before he was re-arrested in Sacramento, California, in early July, according to the indictment. He remains in federal custody without bond.
“This is not ChiefsAholic’s last drive,” Babudar’s attorney Matthew Merryman told KMBC on Friday. “He believes, and we believe, that when the final whistle blows and all of the facts are known that he is going to be redeemed in the eyes of his community, in the eyes of his fans and in the eyes of the Chiefs Kingdom.”
A trial date is set for January 8, the indictment says.
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