They forged and deposited 125 U.S. Treasury checks worth $4.5 million
USPS News Link 9/30/26 – A U.S. Treasury check-stealing scheme at the Postal Service’s New York International Service Center at John F. Kennedy Airport has landed two former USPS employees in prison.
In 2023, a U.S. bank reported that 1,500 checks it had mailed were never delivered to the intended recipients. The bank said the checks, valued at $700,000, were fraudulently cashed, and filed complaints with the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, or OIG, as well as the Postal Inspection Service and the New York City Police Department.
OIG special agents initiated an investigation.
The break in the case came when NYPD officers made a routine traffic stop of an off-duty USPS employee. When they searched his vehicle, they found a loaded firearm and a $225,000 Treasury check made out to a Hong Kong resident.
OIG special agents, along with investigators from the U.S. Secret Service and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, found that the suspect was a mail processing clerk at the JFK international service center. This facility processes half of the country’s international mail, and the employee had unfettered access to checks moving into and out of the country.
A search of his residence turned up 11 Treasury checks and five bank-issued checks — none of which were addressed to him — and nearly $5,000 in cash.
OIG agents and postal inspectors found that the processing clerk had been stealing Treasury checks from the JFK facility and teaming with another USPS employee to sell them through social media for a portion of their face value. Three other co-conspirators not employed by the Postal Service were falsely endorsing the checks, depositing them into a bank account and then withdrawing the proceeds.
The two now-former USPS employees had stolen and sold 125 checks valued at $4.5 million. They were charged with conspiring to steal government funds, theft of government funds and possession of stolen mail. The processing clerk was also charged with theft of mail by a Postal Service employee.
The clerk was sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $100,000, while the other USPS employee was given a one-year sentence and ordered to forfeit $58,000.
The other three co-conspirators were charged in separate cases for fraudulently depositing the stolen checks. Two of them received prison time and were ordered to pay back $82,000. The third is awaiting sentencing.
“[These sentences] will serve as a reminder that there are severe consequences when individuals commit crimes targeting the U.S. Mail,” said Matthew Modafferi, OIG special agent in charge.
The OIG recently highlighted the case on its website.
If you suspect or know of mail theft or check fraud involving USPS employees or contractors, report it to the OIG.
