ATLANTA – Former mail recovery clerk Daniqua Clark has pleaded guilty to stealing cash, gift cards, and other items from the mail while working at the Atlanta Mail Recovery Center and fraudulently obtaining two pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and former mail recovery clerk Deneeka Ferguson has pleaded guilty to participating in the mail theft scheme.   

“Clark abused the public’s trust by stealing thousands of dollars of items from the mail and obtaining two fraudulent PPP loans for a non-existent business while serving as a federal employee,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out and hold accountable government employees who compromise their integrity and violate the public’s trust for their own personal gain.”

“This guilty plea sends a strong message to any U.S. Postal Service employee who decides to violate the public’s trust in this manner," said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Ulrich of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG). “As proven in this case, our criminal investigators and the legal teams at the U.S. Attorney’s Office will diligently pursue anyone who steals U.S. Mail and attempts to commit COVID-19 fraud and exploit programs created to help legitimate people and businesses affected by the global pandemic.” 

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: In 2023 and 2024, Daniqua Clark and Deneeka Ferguson worked as mail recovery clerks at the Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the official “lost and found” department for undeliverable and non-returnable mail for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Between May 2023 and February 2024, Clark worked with Ferguson to steal items from the mail at the Mail Recovery Center. Clark and Ferguson exchanged text messages identifying specific items from the mail to steal and discussing how to steal and conceal the theft of those items, including U.S. currency.

During an interview with law enforcement agents on November 19, 2024, Clark admitted to stealing items from the mail both on her own and with Ferguson. Searches of Clark’s U.S. Postal Service locker and personal car led to the recovery of various stolen items, including gift cards, fragrances, and a pill container in the name of an unknown individual. In an interview with law enforcement agents on February 18, 2025, Ferguson admitted to helping Clark steal mail and receiving stolen mail from Clark in exchange for her help.

The investigation further revealed that Clark fraudulently obtained two PPP loans, totaling $36,402, for a non-existent business. To support her application for the loans, Clark submitted a fake income tax document. The funds from the loans were deposited in the same Atlanta-based bank account into which Clark received her salary from the USPS. Clark used those funds for personal expenses, not payroll expenses as required for PPP loans.   

Daniqua Clark, 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail theft, one count of mail theft, and two counts of wire fraud. Deneeka Ferguson, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia pleaded guilty to five counts of obstruction of mail. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for June 11, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Robinson Jr. is prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Department of Justice established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the Department’s resources in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.  Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.