\u201cPostal workers are entrusted with some of the most sensitive materials Americans send and receive: checks, credit cards, tax documents, Social Security information, and financial mail,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.\u00a0 \u201cTameka Babulal betrayed that trust by stealing from the very people on the mail routes she was paid to serve and then using their mail and identities to commit fraud.\u00a0 Today\u2019s sentence makes clear that those who corrupt the mail system from within and exploit the public\u2019s trust for personal gain will be held accountable.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, public filings, and statements made in court proceedings:<\/p>\n From in or about December 2022 through May 23, 2024, BABULAL conspired with others in a scheme to possess, steal, and misuse mail stolen from the USPS in Mount Vernon, New York.\u00a0 BABULAL stole hundreds of mail items from hundreds of victims whose mail she touched, including checks, credit cards, financial mail, tax documents, Social Security cards, and other sensitive materials.\u00a0 She kept those items at the Hempstead, New York, residence she shared with her husband and co-conspirator, Joel Babulal.\u00a0 BABULAL\u2019s victims included elderly people in their 90s, young adults in their early 20s, business owners, churchgoers, military personnel, and other everyday people.<\/p>\n When law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Babulal residence on May 23, 2024, officers recovered, among other things, dozens of checks, treasury checks, and money orders in victims\u2019 names, including blank or washed checks; 51 credit cards in other people\u2019s names; unopened financial mail appearing to contain credit cards or checks; several Social Security cards and tax documents in other people\u2019s names; bundles of unopened mail and packages; and a USPS postal bin filled with victims\u2019 undelivered mail.<\/p>\n Using the mail and other items she stole from victims on her mail route, BABULAL carried out an extensive credit card, check, and identity theft fraud scheme involving dozens of victims.\u00a0 BABULAL\u2019s credit card scheme involved at least around $40,922.41 in fraudulent transactions using stolen credit cards.\u00a0 Additionally, BABULAL\u2019s check fraud scheme involved $13,510 in fraudulent transactions using stolen checks, and her possession of an additional at least $78,705.05 in checks and money orders.\u00a0 To commit her crimes, BABULAL used various means of identification of her victims.\u00a0 For example, BABULAL and her co-conspirators used their victims\u2019 names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other identifying information to fraudulently open accounts, submit credit-card applications, activate payment cards, and attempt transactions.<\/p>\n The Government\u2019s investigation also revealed that BABULAL made false statements to obtain her USPS position.\u00a0 In her USPS employment application, she falsely claimed that she had previously worked at a Taco Bell restaurant under a supervisor named \u201cMark Khan.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, \u201cMark Khan\u201d was not a real person, and both the name \u201cMark Khan\u201d and the phone number she listed for him were used by BABULAL\u2019s husband and co-conspirator, Joel Babulal.<\/p>\n On March 18, 2026, BABULAL pled guilty before Judge Seibel to conspiracy to steal and unlawfully possess mail, theft of mail by a postal employee, unlawful possession of mail, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and false statements.\u00a0 BABULAL\u2019s husband, Joel Babulal, pled guilty to conspiring with his wife and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14, 2026.<\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n In addition to the prison term, BABULAL, 38, of Hempstead, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture.<\/p>\n Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the USPS, Office of Inspector General, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.<\/p>\n This case is being handled by the Office\u2019s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reyhan Watson, John Sarlitto, and James McMahon are in charge of the prosecution.<\/p>\n
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