Police Officer Delvin Fleming was arrested Thursday on charges that he abused the government’s annual sick leave policy to obtain money under false pretenses, according to a statement from the V.I. Department of Justice.

Fleming allegedly bilked the government’s “Donated Leave Program” and submitted forged documents to try to work abroad while still employed – and paid – by the V.I. Police Department, according to the Justice Department.

Fleming, a police officer based on St. Thomas, turned himself in upon learning that there was a warrant issued for his arrest and was advised of his rights by Magistrate Kathleen Mackay of the Superior Court on Thursday morning.

Fleming allegedly requested donated sick leave from fellow police officers and other government employees as part of a scam to remain on medical leave but in the active employment of the police department while serving as a guard for a security contractor in Afghanistan.

The charges allege Fleming was earning up to $118,000 while working for the ArmorGroup North America as an executive security guard. Justice claims Fleming filed false medical statements from service providers, some bearing forged signatures of physicians, to justify his extended medical leave from the police department.

They say Fleming also filed false statements with the Police Department suggesting that his leave from the department was to help with medical treatment of a sick child at an off-island facility, all while in the employment of the security guard agency in Afghanistan.

In the Justice Department statement, V.I. Police Commissioner Henry White said he was disappointed in the officer’s actions. “This department has zero tolerance for officers who take an oath to uphold the laws of the Virgin Islands and revert to the types of actions that Officer Fleming is alleged to have become involved in.”

“I was briefed by the attorney general as to the findings of the investigation and now that Officer Fleming has been arrested and charged, he will be placed on leave in accordance with provisions of the police union’s collective bargaining agreement, pending the outcome of these criminal proceeding,” White said.

Fleming was most recently assigned to the Training Division of the Virgin Islands Police Department.