Stolen Checks for Sale: OIG Investigation Exposes Insider Mail Theft
There’s a sinking feeling when you realize a check you’ve mailed goes missing, never to be found. But it’s a bigger blow when you hear the check wound up on a social media platform for sale.
That’s how this investigation got its start: A national bank contacted our Hotline in June 2024 after several clients in the Myrtle Beach area reported that’s what was happening to their business checks — they were swiped from the mail, adulterated, and then sold for cash online.
Well versed in detecting mail theft patterns, our special agents quickly narrowed down the location of the thefts to a large mail processing plant in West Columbia, SC. Using advanced investigative techniques, they caught the mail thief in action. In plain sight, a mail handler was rifling through the mail, choosing specific envelopes, and then stuffing them into his clothing.
Our special agents found the mail handler had stuffed about 25 pieces of stolen mail into his waistband. He later confessed to having stolen checks for about five months and selling them on the streets for small amounts of cash. But that didn’t explain how the checks wound up on social media or why there was a sizeable influx of cash in his bank account.
The mail handler eventually came clean on advertising the sale of checks online and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud. Late last year, a federal court sentenced him to almost five years in prison with an additional five years of supervised release and ordered him to return over $200,000 to his victims.
If you suspect or know of mail theft involving Postal Service employees or contractors, please report it to our Hotline.