Indiana University police captain arrested on felony theft and fraud charges

An Indiana University Police Department-Bloomington captain was arrested Thursday on felony theft and fraud charges regarding an $8,000 deposit to his personal account from funds his husband is accused of stealing from his employer.

Christopher C. Collins, 38, a leader of Indiana University’s Police Academy, was arrested on a warrant charging him with one count of theft and one count of fraud. He was booked into the Monroe County Jail at 1 p.m. May 30 and released six hours later.

Later Thursday, Collins’ husband, 33-year-old Robert J. Casad, was booked into jail on 13 felonies: five counts of fraud and eight counts of theft. His bond was set at $5,500. Both men have initial courts hearings scheduled June 7.

In a statement, IU said Collins "has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal process."

The seven-page probable cause affidavit filed in the case accuses Casad of 38 illegal transactions, including checks written to himself and charges made using two company credit cards, totaling $32,672. He allegedly used the Zelle digital payment network 15 times to transfer $11,723 to himself.

The transactions that led to the criminal charges were between October 2021 and October 2023.

The affidavit traces just one of the transactions to Collins: An $8,000 check made payable to 3C Properties, an LLC with Collins as the sole registered agent. Check No. 6596 was dated Sept. 5, 2023 and cashed the next day.

According to Bloomington Police Department Detective Rob Shrake’s account, a review of bank records and surveillance video from the IU Credit Union on 17^th Street shows that Collins took the check to the bank and deposited it into his 3C account. An hour later, $7,800 was transferred to Collins’ personal IU Credit Union account.

Shrake’s report said one purchase made with the money was a $428 wine cooler “that Collins assisted in moving into his residence.”

There’s no allegation that Collins, who has been with IUPD since 2009, was a party to Casad’s alleged workplace theft.

The affidavit says Casad worked from August 2021 until November 2023 as the office manager at a South Walnut Street business called Innovative Surgical Designs, a medical device design and manufacturing firm. A subsidiary company, Nexus, makes firearms components. When he resigned, the business owner found bookkeeping records were missing and an investigation was started.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.