$4.5M Treasury Check Theft Scheme Nearly Flew Under the Radar at JFK

A lot can get lost in the hustle and bustle of the busiest international airport on the East Coast. And with nearly half of all U.S. international mail volume coming through JFK — the airport that houses the Postal Service’s largest international mail facility — one employee thought he could use that volume to cloak a sprawling mail theft and U.S. Treasury check fraud scheme. 

That’s until the USPS OIG and its law enforcement partners stepped in.

In May 2023, two parallel investigations were unfolding: A major U.S. bank filed complaints with our Office of Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the NYPD alleging over 1,500 checks it mailed weren’t delivered and were instead fraudulently cashed — the bank estimated its losses at over $700,000. Our special agents began pursuing leads to find who was cashing them and where the checks were being stolen from the mailstream.

At the same time, the NYPD arrested an off-duty postal employee during a lawful traffic stop, finding his license suspended and that he was carrying a loaded firearm in violation of New York State law. But a search of his vehicle turned up a most unusual discovery: a U.S. Treasury check valued at over $225,000 destined to someone in Hong Kong.

When the NYPD reported the arrest to our special agents, the parallel converged. The now-joint investigation quickly brought on partners from the U.S. Secret Service and TIGTA — the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which investigates Treasury check fraud.

Investigators found the employee was a foreign receiving clerk assigned to USPS’s international service center at JFK, where he had nearly unlimited access to U.S. and international checks moving in and out of the country. When they executed a search warrant on his home, they found 11 more Treasury checks, five bank-issued checks, almost $5,000 in cash, and several digital devices. 

When our special agents and postal inspectors examined a cellphone the NYPD had confiscated during the clerk’s arrest, they found evidence pointing to his involvement in the sale of stolen checks on a popular social media platform. Soon, other co-conspirators were identified: a former Postal Service employee and three others. Together, the five conspired to steal and sell a stunning $4.5 million in domestic and international checks the clerk diverted from JFK.

The remaining suspects were arrested and eventually all five pleaded guilty. The clerk was handed the harshest sentence of five years’ imprisonment with $100,000 in forfeited assets and joint restitution with the former employee totaling more than $400,000. The former employee was also ordered to forfeit almost $58,000 and to serve a year in prison. Two others were also sentenced to jail time and were ordered to pay back almost $82,000 combined to their victims, while the final defendant is awaiting sentencing.

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

For further reading:

Department of Justice (via uspsoig.gov), Two Former Postal Workers Sentenced for Theft of U.S. Treasury Checks Valued at More Than $4 Million from Kennedy Airport Mail Facility

“The sentence imposed on the defendants will serve as a reminder that there are severe consequences when individuals commit crimes targeting the U.S Mail. The USPS OIG is thankful for the great longstanding relationships we have developed with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to combat mail theft.”

– Matthew Modafferi 
Special Agent in Charge,
U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General