Daily printout: April 23

A Chicago area mail theft conspiracy involving 35 Postal Service employees has ended in prison sentences and $6 million in restitution.

Hundreds of people and businesses weren’t receiving their expected business checks, U.S. Treasury checks, credit cards, debit cards, military correspondence, gift cards and cash in the mail.

Their checks were being cashed, their credit cards were being used fraudulently, and their identities were being hijacked.

Members of a street gang had begun targeting young, female Postal Service employees in 2017.

One employee-turned-conspirator was approached while grocery shopping in her uniform. A young man asked her if she wanted to make some money on the side by stealing specific types of envelopes from the mail and turning them over to him or his associates.

At her Post Office, she rifled through the mail to grab what was requested and then snuck it out in her uniform or belongings. She handed off the stolen mail while on her delivery route or after work.

At first, she was paid large sums of money and given expensive gifts. But the gifts soon stopped and the money dwindled.

The criminal then threatened her life if she stopped stealing, making it harder for her to break free and alert the authorities.

She wasn’t the only employee targeted online and in person with promises of quick, easy cash. Once recruited, the gang would push them to lure other employees — mostly young women with no criminal records. 

Video surveillance captured other mail carriers and handlers pocketing handfuls of mail at Post Offices and processing plants and in their delivery vehicles. Some mail handlers were seen walking out of plants with garbage bags filled with stolen mail.

Gang members would pay others to cash the stolen checks for them.

USPS customers whose checks were stolen had their identities compromised because the criminals used their personally identifiable information to open credit cards in their names. The colluding employees aided this by intercepting mail sent from financial institutions intended to verify the identity of the supposed requestors.

Agents with the USPS Office of Inspector General and postal inspectors partnered with Homeland Security Investigations, the Secret Service, the Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center, and the Naperville, IL, Police Department to build their cases. They also enlisted the help of banks and other financial institutions.

They eventually identified 13 external suspects and 35 USPS employees who had exploited more than 200 ZIP Codes and more than 10,300 victims.

The employees resigned or were terminated. The federal prosecution resulted in the conviction and sentencing of 27 defendants to a combined 36 years in prison. They were also ordered to pay their victims a combined $6 million.

“When trust in the Postal Service was stolen, the OIG and its law enforcement partners took it back,” said Tammy Hull, the Postal Service’s inspector general.

The OIG recently highlighted this case on its website.

If you suspect or know of mail theft involving USPS employees or contractors, report it to the OIG.