(NewsReady.com) – To Kansas City Chiefs fans, Xaviar Babudar — better known as “ChiefsAholic” on social media — is a familiar sight. For years, one of the team’s most devoted supporters, has attended games dressed in a wolf costume and Chiefs gear. But it seems he has a darker side. A federal grand jury has indicted him for robbing six banks.
On August 17, a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, indicted Babudar on a string of charges that included three counts of armed bank robbery, bank theft, money laundering, and interstate transportation of stolen property. The US Attorney’s office says Babudar robbed a total of six banks across four states — Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee — and made failed attempts to rob three more. He then laundered the money through casinos and sports betting, raking in more than $100,000 through successful bets on the Chiefs and their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. He also cashed in more than a million dollars worth of casino chips purchased with stolen cash, turning them into clean money.
Babudar’s luck ran out on December 16, 2022, after he robbed the Tulsa Teachers Credit Union in Bixby, Oklahoma, at gunpoint. He got away on a bicycle with $150,000 in cash — but was caught just blocks away from the scene of the crime. Then, just to remove any doubt about his guilt, when he was released on bail in February, he cut off his ankle tag and absconded. By the time he was recaptured in California in July, federal investigators had linked him to several other crimes.
After the indictment, Matthew T. Merryman, Babudar’s attorney, called it “an unfair and unjust portrayal” of his client. He said he’s confident the superfan’s innocence will be confirmed at trial, and he’ll be “redeemed in the eyes of his supporters, admirers, and the Chiefs Kingdom.”
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