KANSAS CITY, Mo– Additional charges were brought Wednesday against the owner of a Kansas City day care center who, along with the center’s director, was previously indicted by a federal grand jury for a conspiracy to fraudulently receive as much as $556,000 in federal benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Sharif Karie, 40, of Olathe, Kan., was charged with 15 counts of money laundering in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City. Wednesday’s 23-count superseding indictment also contains the original eight counts charged against Karie and Sheri Beamon, 47, of Kansas City.

Karie, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, is the owner and CEO of a day care center established under two businesses and two names for the same location, with the same key employees: KARIE Day Care Center, LLC, and Tima Child Care Center, LLC, at 1019 Admiral Blvd., Kansas City. Beamon is the director of KARIE/Tima Childcare Center.

The original indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury on Jan. 12, 2017, was the result of a nationwide sweep that targeted childcare center fraud schemes. The national law enforcement operation in Missouri and six other states was the result of separate, but related, federal investigations into childcare center fraud that resulted in a loss of more than $1 million to the government.

The money-laundering charges relate to financial transactions in which Karie allegedly attempted to conceal the source of the proceeds of illegal activity.

The indictment alleges that Karie and Beamon participated in a conspiracy from October 2013 to June 2016 to submit false claims to the government. They allegedly billed a federal grant program to provide childcare services to low-income families for more hours and children than actually attended the daycare center. As much as $556,000 was fraudulently billed in connection with this scheme, the indictment says.

The Child Care and Development Fund provides daycare subsidies for low-income families where the parents are employed or engaged in job training. Providers contract with the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and submit claims electronically.

According to the indictment, pole cameras were installed near the day care center and captured footage of the entrances and exits of the building during two time periods in 2015 and in 2016. Timesheets and billing records were reviewed and compared to the children seen on the pole cameras being dropped off and picked up from the daycare center during that time. There were significant discrepancies, the indictment says, between the timesheets, claims submitted and the pole camera footage.

In addition to the conspiracy, Karie and Beamon are charged together in one count of theft of public money, three counts of aiding and abetting each other to commit aggravated identity theft and three counts of wire fraud. The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Karie and Beamon to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged scheme.

According to the indictment, the state conducted a compliance review of the daycare center’s billing for May 2014 and July 2014. The review found several attendance records missing. The review also identified 14 out of the 15 families with children at the center who had a parent employed there. With only two classrooms, the indictment says, it is improbable that parents were not caring for their own children. One of these parents reported that her job was contingent on having all of her children placed in care at KARIE Day Care Center so her child care would be paid by the state. This same 2014 audit found several discrepancies on the time sheets submitted to the state.

Subsequent unannounced inspections at KARIE Day Care Center found the facility in violation of state regulations pertaining to child care licensing rules, the indictment says, including health and safety, staff ratios and the maintaining of attendance records. Each of the inspections resulted in violation findings.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a black man fatally shot by two white officers in Kansas as he fled from them after a struggle filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Wednesday.

The lawsuit alleges that the officers, Michael Cruse and Justin Mackey, fatally shot 30-year-old Dominique White in September near a park in Topeka without legal justification. White was armed and just months out of prison after being prosecuted for burglary and illegal gun possession when the officers responded to a report of gunfire and confronted White.

Police body camera footage shows White fleeing from the officers before he was shot. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay ruled in December that the shooting was justified, saying White moved his hand over a pocket that contained a gun as he fled. An internal police investigation found that Cruse and Mackey followed department policies during the confrontation.

Topeka city spokeswoman Molly Hadfield said Wednesday she couldn’t comment on pending litigation.

White’s family said the video shows that White wasn’t an immediate threat to the officers. White’s death certificate said he died primarily from gunshots in the back. The lawsuit said each officer fired four times and three of the shots hit White in the back.

The suit, which seeks more than $75,000 in damages, also accuses the city of providing inadequate training and violating White’s constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. The family’s attorney, Andrew Stroth, said the lawsuit isn’t just about compensation, but also about sending a message to the city and the police department.

“Our focus is reform and addressing unconstitutional and unjustified actions by police,” said Stroth, managing partner of Chicago-based Action Injury Law Group, which specializes in police shooting cases. “Across the country there’s a pattern and practice of officers using lethal force, especially against African-American men.”

Topeka police and the FBI investigated the shooting, which led to protests and people camping in front of law enforcement headquarters in Topeka. The U.S. Department of Justice moderated a community forum. The state Legislature changed the law to allow family members to see body-camera footage after White’s family had trouble getting permission to view the footage in his case.

“The fact that we have video evidence of Dominique getting executed by police is critical to the case,” Stroth said. “The video speaks for itself.”

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A professor at Miami University in Ohio has been indicted on charges of traveling to Missouri to have sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

The U.S. attorney’s office says federal grand jurors returned the indictment Tuesday against 52-year-old Kevin Connor Armitage, who is a professor of American Studies. The indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed in May.

Court records say an FBI employee was monitoring a website on which prostitution is discussed when Armitage indicted he would be visiting the Kansas City area and asked for a recommendation. Armitage was offered the phone number of a different FBI employee who posed as the teen. The records say Armitage was arrested when he went to a restaurant where he had arranged to meet the teen’s cousin.

TOPEKA, KAN. – The developer of the Oread Hotel in Lawrence and his bookkeeper were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of scheming to collect more than $400,000 in fraudulent tax refunds from the City of Lawrence, according to the United States Attorney’s office.

Thomas S. Fritzel, 52, Lawrence, Kan., and Keela Lam, 46, Lawrence, Kan., are charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the city and one count of interstate transportation of stolen funds. Also named as defendants are companies controlled by Fritzel including Oread Construction LC, Oread Wholesale LC, Oread Inn LC and R6 LC.

The indictment alleges that in 2008 Fritzel signed an agreement with the City of Lawrence to develop the Oread Hotel in Lawrence, a seven-story hotel with restaurants, bars and a gift shop.

The city set up a Tax Increment Financing District and a Transportation Development District around the hotel and agreed to reimburse Fritzel for his development costs. The funds to pay Fritzel were to come from property tax and sales taxes collected inside the redevelopment district.

The indictment alleges Fritzel and Lam conspired to defraud the city by seeking reimbursement for hundreds of transactions that were not generated within the redevelopment district. The indictment alleges the defendants fraudulently sought refunds for taxes paid on furniture and appliances, work on houses Fritzel owned in Lawrence and Colorado, landscaping materials, party tent rentals, car batteries, equipment for a car wash and other items.

A separate indictment alleges Fritzel and others violated the requirements of the Clean Air Act for disposal of asbestos.

The indictment charges Fritzel, Casey Stewart, 38, Lawrence, Kan., Wesley Lynch, 60, Lawrence, Kan. and Tucker Fritzel, 25, Lawrence, Kan., with one count of conspiracy (count one), one count of failing to notify the Environmental Protection Agency of the removal of asbestos materials (count two), one count of failing to wet materials that contained asbestos during demolition (count three) and one count of failing to dispose of asbestos waste in leak-tight containers (count four).

Also named as defendants in the second indictment are DFC Company of Lawrence, LC; Eagle 1968, LC of Lawrence and R&R Supply Company, LC of Lawrence.

The indictment alleges the defendants conspired with Fritzel to violate federal laws for handling asbestos in order for Fritzel to save money on demolition and renovations at the Alvamar Country Club in Lawrence.

In the first indictment, upon conviction, the defendants face up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the conspiracy count, and up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the count charging interstate transportation of stolen funds.

In the second indictment, upon conviction, the defendants face up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on count one, up to two years and a fine up to $250,000 on count two and up to five years and a fine up to $250,000 on counts three and four.

The Lawrence Police Department and the FBI investigated the Oread Hotel indictment. The Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Inspector General investigated the other indictment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway is prosecuting both cases.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Kansas City man has been charged with fatally shooting another man as the victim’s girlfriend’s listened over the phone.

The Kansas City Star reports that 39-year-old Rodreko Jennings was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 30-year-old Michael Hooker. No attorney is listed for Jennings in online court records.

Police say the shooting happened over the weekend after Jennings and another man began arguing with Hooker over a woman. During the argument, Hooker pulled out his phone. The girlfriend told police she had called to ask Hooker to join her at a restaurant. But court records said all she could hear was arguing and then several gunshots.

The girlfriend said “Hello? Hello?” into the phone, but no one answered.

EUREKA, Mo. (AP) – The Latest on a woman who was thrown off a suburban St. Louis water ride (all times local):

A woman who was flung into the air while riding a water ride at Six Flags in suburban St. Louis says she suffered whiplash.

Sondra Thornhill, of the Missouri town of Lebanon, told KMOV-TV that she heard her “neck pop” Saturday on the Typhoon Twister in Eureka. She was taken to a hospital, where she underwent a CT scan and X-ray.

Six Flags says in a statement that the ride is closed while the company investigates. The company offered no details and hasn’t returned phone or email messages Tuesday from The Associated Press.

The ride, which opened this summer, sends a four-person raft careening into a 125-foot (38-meter) long whirlpool bowl, down a five-story drop, up a 45-foot (14-meter) zero-gravity wave wall and back down into a splash pool.

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EUREKA, Mo. (AP) — A water ride at Six Flags in suburban St. Louis has been closed after a woman said she was flung from a tube and suffered whiplash.

Sondra Thornhill, of the Missouri town of Lebanon, told KMOV-TV that the accident happened Saturday on the Typhoon Twister at Hurricane Harbor in Eureka. She was taken to a hospital, where she underwent a CAT scan and X-ray.

“Only my hands were on the handles. My whole body went off the raft and of course, when it went back down, my hands were still on it and it threw it me so far forward and back so fast, all I heard was my neck pop,” Thornhill said. “I thought I broke it at first then it was just a little sore and I stopped panicking. I’ll be alright.”

Six Flags said in a statement that it’s investigating but released no information how long the ride will be closed.

“The well-being of our guests is always our priority,” the statement said. “As standard protocol, we have closed the ride while we look into the circumstances surrounding a guest coming out of their tube.”

The park hasn’t returned phone or email messages Tuesday from The Associated Press.

In neighboring Kansas, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was decapitated in August 2016 while riding the 17-story Verruckt waterslide at the Schlitterbahn water park. Two other women riding with Caleb also were injured when their raft went airborne. Two Schlitterbahn maintenance workers, the park’s co-owner and the designer of the ride have been indicted in Caleb’s death. The Verruckt never reopened afterward and plans call for it to be demolished.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest in the case of missing Wichita boy whose body was found last month (all times local):

4 p.m.

An autopsy of a 5-year-old Wichita boy couldn’t determine how he died.

The autopsy report of Lucas Hernandez released Wednesday lists both the cause and manner of his death as undetermined.

Lucas was missing for more than three months when his father’s live-in girlfriend, Emily Glass, led a private investigator on May 24 to his body under a bridge in rural Harvey County.

Glass took her own life two weeks after his body was found, according to her autopsy report that was also released Wednesday.

The report on the boy’s body says his body was found “in a state of advanced decomposition under a pile of debris in a culvert.” It noted that x-rays showed “no obvious skeletal trauma.”

District Attorney Marc Bennett says he will make a formal announcement early next week after reviewing the autopsies.

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a tractor-trailer hauling a load of livestock has crashed in northeast Kansas, killing seven head of cattle and sending three people to a hospital with minor injuries.

The crash happened Tuesday on Kansas 10 in Douglas County, just north of Interstate 70. Douglas County sheriff’s Sgt. Kristen Channel says the rig’s driver ran a stop sign and went off the road before crashing. The driver was taken to a Lawrence hospital, along with a 10- and 12-year-old in the truck with him. The relationship between the man and children weren’t known.

Channel says three cattle were killed and a veterinarian was called to the scene to euthanize four others that were injured. The remaining cattle were rounded up and transferred to another truck.