On April 3, 2008, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) special agents apprehended a North Dakota Rural Letter Carrier after observing him steal mail and conceal it in his home. Upon searching the Rural Letter Carrier's residence, OIG special agents and law enforcement officers from the Wahpeton, North Dakota Police Department, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Richland County Sheriff's Office and the Southwest Multi County Agency discovered a significant amount of stolen and rifled mail, which filled most of the home. OIG special agents later determined the Rural Letter Carrier stole 36,785 mailpieces, which weighed more than 8,000 pounds.

The mailpieces recovered from his house dated back to 1998. The rifled and unopened mail included all classes of mail, such as Standard Mail; Periodicals; and First-Class letters, flats, and parcels; as well as newspapers.

Postal management placed the Rural Letter Carrier in off-duty status on the day of his arrest. He was subsequently charged with federal violations for delay and possession of stolen U.S. Mail.

OIG special agents launched the investigation into the Rural Letter Carrier's fraudulent activities after receiving a compliant the he was stealing another Rural Letter Carrier's personal mail.

From October 2006 through January 2008 the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General conducted an audit in support of the Postal Service's Cost and Revenue Analysis. The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Postal Service conducted statistical tests to collect cost, revenue and volume data in accordance with established policies and procedures. Upon completion of the audit we made recommendations to the Postal Service and they agreed with our recommendations. Click here for the complete audit report.

Washington, DC -- A six-year investigation by the United States Postal Service's Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Department of Justice into defective pricing practices came to a successful conclusion on March 10, 2008. On that day, the Postal Service received a $1.5 million settlement payment from Bell & Howell. The OIG investigation indicated that accurate cost figures on a $31 million postal contract were intentionally withheld from the Postal Service.

The OIG investigation disclosed that during contract negotiations in September 2000, Bell & Howell representatives withheld cost or pricing data that resulted in the Postal Service overpaying approximately $5,000 each on 200 machines used to verify bulk mailing information. The investigation further disclosed that Bell & Howell knew the company's standard material cost was steadily decreasing, but did not disclose this to the Postal Service. Standard material cost had dropped to $35,900.00 per machine compared to the proposed price to Postal Service of $41,000.00.