Financial Fraud

USPS OIG Investigations

The Postal Service has annual operating revenue of nearly $73 billion. Each day it serves more than nine million customers and issues more than 900,000 money orders. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) addresses risks in this area through our investigative Financial Fraud program.

The Financial Fraud program objectives are to protect postal revenue and assets from theft or misuse; to review internal controls and identify problems and solutions to prevent the loss of postal revenue and assets; to investigate and initiate administrative, civil, or criminal actions against individuals and firms responsible for the theft or misuse of postal revenue and assets; and to provide guidance to postal management to reduce risk. Financial Fraud investigations include the following:

• Employee theft of postal funds associated with retail unit revenue from the sale of stamps, money orders, retail products, and packaging products.
• Personal use of postal funds associated with retail sales (for example, kiting money orders or postage sales).
• Theft of postal products (stamps or padded bags) and services (the rent for a post office box).
• SmartPay card purchases converted to personal use.
• Gasoline purchased with the Voyager card for personal use
• Merchant-submitted fictitious Voyager card transactions.

During the April 1, 2007 through September 30, 2007, reporting period, OIG investigations have resulted in 112 arrests, 365 personnel actions, and $735,000 in recoveries to the Postal Service.

Former SSA Who “Cashed In” on Postal Funds Gets Prison Time

On January 31, 2008, a U.S. district judge sentenced a former Sales Service Associate (SSA) to 18 months in prison for stealing postal funds. The judge also ordered the former SSA to pay restitution of $30,215 to the Postal Service. After serving his term, the former part-time employee will be placed on 3 years of supervised release.

The former SSA, pled guilty to Misappropriation of Postal Funds on October 2, 2007, for stealing $20,620 in postal funds slated for deposit at the local bank of the Evans Post Office in Evans, Georgia. During an OIG investigation, special agents learned the bank had received 23 deposits from the post office for which the declared amount was less than the actual deposited amount. The bank received the deposits in question from December 7, 2006, to May 9, 2007. The former SSA admitted stealing the missing deposit money in addition to $4,689, which he stole from a postal cash box in September 2006, as well as two postal money orders, total value $658. He resigned from the Postal Service in May 2007.