Feds: Woman tried to pay arsonist to destroy Kansas City building for insurance money
A Gladstone woman was charged Monday with attempting to pay an undercover agent $150,000 to burn down her commercial building in Kansas City for insurance money, according to federal prosecutors.
Mia Lee Jamison, 67, was charged with attempted malicious destruction of property for trying to hire someone she thought would destroy her building that contained several businesses.
Jamison last week offered an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives money to set Mia Plaza near 39th Street and Bell Avenue on fire. The building contains a liquor and grocery store, a sushi bar and a hookah lounge.
Jamison wanted the fire to look like an accident, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
She told the agent she was about to lose ownership of the building, which she had a $1.6 million insurance policy on, according to prosecutors. That was more than the building’s worth, she allegedly told the agent.
The agent agreed to set the fire between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. to limit the risk of hurting tenants.
Jamison allegedly paid the agent $3,500 upfront, the rest of which would be paid after she collected the insurance money, authorities said. She told the agent she talked about burning the building before with another possible arsonist.
Citing an ongoing civil lawsuit, Jamison told the agent Friday she needed the building burned before Monday, prosecutors said. She allegedly told the agent she was willing to pay more because she wanted the fire set sooner rather than later.
During their final meeting, Jamison allegedly told the agent she removed surveillance cameras at the building in anticipation of the blaze. But early Monday morning, investigators told Jamison her building was still standing. She was then arrested.
Jamison remained in custody pending a detention hearing. She did not yet have an attorney listed in court records who could be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
