Officers' moonlighting draws scrutiny - UPI.com AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Off-duty police officers in Austin (Texas) were paid cash to watch over a wealthy Mexican man's daughter at college, law enforcement sources said. Two officers have left the Austin Police Department in the past month since federal and local investigators began looking into the matter, the Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo confirmed an investigation was being conducted but would not how many officers have been investigated or questioned. Citing an ongoing inquiry, Acevedo declined to describe the allegations or say how the department became aware of them, the report said. The exchange of cash helped draw the interest of investigators, criminal justice officials familiar with the case said. Police have questioned whether the man, whom they did not identify, had paid the officers directly, as required for cash payments, or distributed it other ways. Officers are to be paid directly in such cases as part of a policy designed to prevent improprieties and maintain transparency, the newspaper said. Officials would not identify the man from Mexico, specify how officers reached an agreement with him or indicate how the investigation started. Also unclear was how much the officers were paid, and over what period. The American-Statesman did not identify what college the man's daughter attended.