USPS worker stole stimulus checks and credit cards from people on his route, feds say
A former U.S. Postal Service employee was caught stealing dozens of stimulus checks and credit cards from mail he was supposed to deliver on his route, federal prosecutors said.
While he was under investigation, a camera was hidden in his USPS vehicle and recorded him stuffing envelopes with stimulus checks inside his pockets in northern New Jersey, according to court documents.
The man, 30, of East Orange, New Jersey, admitted to stealing credit cards and checks and pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft on April 3, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced in a news release.
Once the cards were stolen from addresses in Montclair and Verona, the man tried activating and using some of them at stores, prosecutors said.
Other times, he sold the credit cards and stimulus checks issued by the U.S. Treasury Department, according to officials.
Hassen Abdellah, the man’s attorney, declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on April 5.
Residents report not receiving credit cards from USPS
The case dates to January 2021, when residents along the man’s mail route began complaining about not receiving credit cards from USPS, a complaint filed in court shows.
Several of the cards that weren’t delivered were activated through calls made to banks placed from the man’s phone, the complaint says.
One stolen card was used to make a fraudulent $405 purchase from a shoe store in January 2023, according to the complaint. This attempt was declined, according to investigators.
Another declined attempt involved how a stolen credit card the man was supposed to deliver was used to try to buy $2,000 worth of items from stores in March, the complaint says.
After an investigation was launched, USPS inspectors discovered Instagram direct messages between the man and other individuals discussing stolen mail and stimulus checks, according to the complaint.
In one message, an individual, who wasn’t identified in the complaint, posted a photo of 21 stolen stimulus checks, the complaint says.
Eighteen of those checks were meant for people located along the man’s mail delivery route, according to the complaint.
This led USPS Office of Inspector General agents to hide a camera in the man’s USPS vehicle as part of the investigation in September 2021, the complaint says.
The man stopped working for USPS that month, according to prosecutors.
Now he’s facing a potential sentence of up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, officials said.
The man’s sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 15, according to the release.
East Orange is about 15 miles west of New York City.
This story was originally published April 5, 2023 at 9:04 AM with the headline "USPS worker stole stimulus checks and credit cards from people on his route, feds say."
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