Former Philadelphia police captain and eight current and former cops charged with conspiracy, theft

A former Philadelphia police captain, five active-duty police officers, and three retired cops were charged Friday with theft and conspiracy in connection with the misuse of city anti-violence funds.

Nashid Akil, 46, the former captain in North Philadelphia’s 22nd Police District, turned himself in at police headquarters.

The charges against the current and former officers, which include theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, are related to a $392,000 anti-violence grant awarded to a youth boxing program that Akil founded.

Police said in a news release that Akil and the other officers were paid by the program while working for the police department, “in some cases, during their scheduled working hours.”

City employees are prohibited from collecting city grant funds, but Akil was paying himself and other officers to work as boxing instructors — an arrangement first revealed by an Inquirer investigation nearly three years ago.

“I am deeply troubled by this entire situation, as all Philadelphia Police Officers are expected to maintain the highest level of professional and ethical standards,” Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel said in a statement. “However, I am particularly disappointed by the involvement of a former commanding officer.”

The others charged Friday are former officers George and Robyn Gee, and LaCarmella Fortune, and active-duty officers Brittanie Crockett, Daniel Moll, Janae McDonald, Mark DiGenio, and Michael Manor.

Bethel suspended the five active officers for 30 days with the intent to dismiss. The nine defendants, most of them veterans on the force, have a combined 234 years of service.

The improper use of about $76,000 in grant funds was first disclosed by The Inquirer in 2023 and sparked investigations by police Internal Affairs and the District Attorney’s Office.

District Attorney Larry Krasner did not immediately comment Friday. The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.

Akil was abruptly reassigned in October 2022, hours after The Inquirer reported on his chronic absenteeism and the chaos in his relatively high-crime district.

While Akil was collecting pay from his side job as a boxing instructor, he was neglecting his duties as police captain. His city-issued SUV was often parked on a tree-lined street in front of his Northeast Philadelphia home on days when he was supposed to be at work, eight miles away, commanding officers in one of the city’s most violent areas.

The department later benched the 22-year veteran after the newspaper disclosed that he had used the grant money to pay himself and other officers for running “Guns Down, Gloves Up,” a lauded after-school boxing program Akil had started in the district.

The grant application had specified Akil would not be paid.

Relatives of police officers collected at least one-third of the funds paid to participants in the program, according to city records.

“The men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department work tirelessly every day to earn and maintain the trust of our residents,” Bethel said Friday. “When that trust is compromised, we must act decisively.”

» READ MORE: The captain of a busy Philly police district is often absent. Yet he’s in line for promotion.

The Inquirer’s report led to the benching of eight other rank-and-file officers and an FBI probe. It also raised questions about the city’s lax oversight of grant-funded anti-violence programs that were fueled by millions in federal stimulus dollars.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, city officials launched a Community Expansion Grant (CEG) program to distribute millions in federal stimulus funds to qualified community groups. That funding was meant to quell a sharp tide of violence in cities like Philadelphia.

In past interviews, Akil touted the community impact of the boxing program. He insisted that paying himself and other officers for their time was aboveboard and that their presence in the ring as instructors was key to improving police-community relations.

“Ain’t nothing like wanting to fight the captain,” he said in an October 2022 interview.

» READ MORE: How a Philadelphia antiviolence grant improperly funneled $76,000 to city police staffers

Akil resigned in February 2023 after the department moved to fire him over what the department called an unrelated disciplinary matter. Investigators found that Akil had violated department policy while trying to fire a sergeant for abusing his COVID-19 sick leave, and later lied to Internal Affairs investigators about the incident.

It was an abrupt fall from grace for Akil, a police commander who was slated for a promotion and openly entertained the idea of becoming police commissioner.

Akil denied wrongdoing in a discrimination lawsuit he filed against the city in July, alleging that he was targeted for trying to discipline an employee and consequently shortchanged on his pension.

City officials on Friday could not provide details of their settlement with the former captain.

Inquirer reporters Ryan W. Briggs, Samantha Melamed, and Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.