Ex-Detroit sergeant charged with embezzling money using prisoner ATM cards

A former Detroit police sergeant was charged Friday with embezzling more than $30,000 using prisoner ATM cards at the Detroit Detention Center.

Derek Michael Loranger, 46, is accused of stealing more than 10 ATM cards and loading them up with money from a Detroit Police Department bank account between Jan. 14 and Aug. 4.

Loranger is expected to be arraigned Friday on one count each of embezzlement, using a computer to commit a crime, and misconduct in office, and 10 counts of possession of stolen financial transaction devices.

“There is simply no excuse for this alleged behavior. The evidence will show that this defendant was placed in a position of trust at the Detroit Detention Center- a place where people completely rely on others for their care,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. “This simply cannot be tolerated.”

Loranger is just the latest former Detroit cop to be charged with a crime. Two separate towing scandals led to six cops being sentenced to jail in an extortion scheme and three others being charged with bribery.  

The FBI investigation, dubbed Operation Northern Hook, is also targeting ties between the towing industry and Detroit city council members Scott Benson and Janeé Ayers, and former councilman Andre Spivey, who resigned in September after he pleaded guilty to conspiring with an unidentified staff member to commit bribery.

Spivey and the staff member collected more than $35,000 in cash bribes from an undercover agent or confidential informant on eight different occasions between 2018 and 2020, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The FBI raided the homes and offices of Benson and Ayers on Aug. 25. They have not yet been charged.

In the general election earlier this month, Ayers lost her seat.

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