Security personnel would have thought nothing of it and, in fact, they didn’t at the time: Two siblings were captured by security cameras making over $5,000 in purchases at their local Nordstrom. Security footage also showed a third man spending over $1,000 at an Apple store. They were good days for the local merchants, yet these shopping sprees were anything but normal for the actual account holders. Were they random acts or were they somehow connected?

In January 2020, OIG special agents and postal inspectors began investigating several complaints of mailed credit and debit cards that never reached their addressees in New Jersey. Instead, the missing cards were getting hit with fraudulent charges for electronics, gift cards and other high-cost items. As investigators dug through financial records and security footage, they started connecting seemingly unrelated dots.

It turned out one of the siblings was a former postal employee who was fired after he was caught stealing. A former employee would know the ins and outs of the Postal Service, but could he be the prime suspect if he was no longer part of it?

In another instance, investigators found Economic Impact Payments (EIP) debit cards were compromised and connected to one of the siblings. But records pointed to the involvement of a fourth person — actually, a USPS city carrier technician. The more investigators looked, the more they found all roads led to him.

The carrier allegedly leased a storage unit using gift cards that were purchased with one of the missing credit cards. Remember the third man who made that Apple purchase? The compromised card he used was intended for delivery on this carrier’s route.

Additional electronic records provided further evidence pointing to the conspiracy between the four suspects, with the USPS employee front and center: he had been stealing the cards from the mail and supplying them to the other three, who would then activate and use them for purchases. Together, they charged over $100,000 in purchases and fraudulently used over $11,000 of funds pre-loaded onto EIP cards that were also stolen from the mail.

In October 2020, the ring of four were arrested and charged with mail theft, bank fraud, and identity theft, as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States for the fraudulent use of the EIP cards. One of the siblings and the man who made the Apple purchase signed plea deals. The other sibling was later sentenced to time served plus 3 years’ supervised release and was ordered to pay more than $87,000 in restitution. As for the postal employee?

He was removed from the Postal Service and was sentenced to six months of confinement, three years’ probation, and ordered to pay more than $87,000 in restitution. Thanks to our dedicated agents working with other law enforcement agencies, finding the central role led to the entire plot’s unraveling.

If you suspect or know of mail theft, identity theft or financial fraud involving Postal Service employees or contractors, please report it to our Hotline.

For further reading:

Department of Justice (via uspsoig.gov), Union County Man Sentenced to 14 Months in Prison for Role in Scheme to Steal Mail, Commit Credit Card Fraud, and Defraud United States