Article updated: 10/14/2011 4:06 PM

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20111014/news/710149703/

Schaumburg police and the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office have charged an Elgin man with money laundering and theft after a 9-month-long investigation called Operation Buy Product.

William P. McCormick, 49, of the 1100 block of Country Club Road in Elgin was charged with the two felonies.

According to Schaumburg police, the investigation began early this year after a Schaumburg detective investigating another case developed information that McCormick was buying stolen property.

An undercover Schaumburg officer met with McCormick and eventually sold him property purported to be stolen. Over the course of several months, McCormick made several more purchases from the undercover officer of property purported to be stolen, police said.

On Thursday, the undercover officer sold several thousand dollars worth of purportedly stolen property to McCormick and then arrested him.

Officers then executed search warrants at McCormick’s home as well as at a storage facility in Elgin. Additional searches were conducted at four other locations in Kane, McHenry and Cook counties.

Detectives recovered $22,000 in cash and several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise, Schaumburg police said.

Investigators are continuing to work on seizing a vehicle owned by McCormick that was used during the commission of the charged crimes, according to police.

While some of the transactions between McCormick and the undercover officer took place in Cook County, the final event occurred in Kane County which is why the case is being prosecuted there.

While the Schaumburg Police Department was the lead agency, the cooperative investigation involved assistance from both the Kane County and Cook County state’s attorney’s offices; the Arlington Heights, Elgin, South Barrington and Campton Hills police departments; the Kane County Sheriff’s Office; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The investigation also received assistance from corporate loss prevention investigators from the retailers Target, The Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Sears, and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

In a written statement, Schaumburg Police Chief Brian Howerton said, “This investigation is a prime example of initiative and hard work displayed by our Investigations Division, and further supported by several law enforcement agencies and private sector partners that allowed us to discover and interrupt a lucrative criminal enterprise.”

At a bond hearing Friday afternoon, Kane County Judge James Hallock set McCormick’s bond at $300,000 — meaning he must post 10 percent or $30,000 to be released from custody pending trial.

McCormick’s next court date will be Oct. 27 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

Although McCormick does not have any previous arrests in Kane County, court records show that he was arrested in 1996 in Texas for a theft of more than $1,500 and in 2000 in Cook County, again for theft.

Daily Herald staff writer Harry Hitzeman contributed to this report.