Postal Service Employee Fueled $85K Fraud Scheme

Some of our fraud investigations find perpetrators who are fueled by sheer greed, but others sometimes uncover different motives.

Our special agents started a case after Postal Service management alerted them of suspicious transactions on agency-issued credit cards used for fueling postal vehicles (also known as Voyager cards). At the onset, it seemed two postal employees were making fuel charges in excess, so our investigators collected evidence and launched a detailed analysis of the charges.

What they found just didn’t add up: the purchasing days and times were off, the wrong type of fuel was purchased, the timing of transactions didn’t make sense, and even the odometer readings on file didn’t hold. Our special agents found one employee — not two — made over 200 fraudulent charges, each totaling nearly $300. The employee had been using a colleague’s pin number and 11 Voyager cards to run the scheme. By the end of the 10-month operation, the fraud cost the Postal Service over $85,000.

Our special agents arrested and interviewed the employee, who first denied all the allegations. However, his admissions began as he was faced with more evidence. He also told investigators he wasn’t acting alone: he had an accomplice at one of the gas stations he frequented — a clerk who allegedly took a small cut of the stolen funds and had since been fired.

The employee’s admissions confirmed our special agents’ findings, but when they elicited the motive, an unfortunate account followed. The employee had been struggling with a serious opioid addiction and had even been under the influence earlier that day while at work. He defrauded the Postal Service to fuel his addiction and said the fraud had been weighing heavily on him, but felt relieved he no longer had to carry the burden.

Shortly after his arrest, the employee resigned from the Postal Service and consented to prosecution by information, which bypasses a traditional grand jury indictment. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, was sentenced to time served, and was ordered to pay back over $85,000 to the Postal Service.

If you suspect or know of fraud or other crimes involving Postal Service contractors or employees, please report it to our Hotline. And if you or someone you know is suffering from a substance use disorder, there are resources that can help, such as FindTreatment.gov.

For further reading:

Department of Justice (via uspsoig.gov), Former USPS Employee Admits Stealing Funds