Mail-theft scheme’s leader found with USPS keys and 50 stolen checks in shoe, feds say
Three Pennsylvania men are facing jail time for a scheme that involved stealing checks from the mail, chemically altering them, and depositing them into accounts they controlled, federal officials said.
Scheme “ringleader” Naod Tsegay, 25, of Collingdale was sentenced Nov. 20 to three and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, stolen mail, and possession of stolen USPS keys, according to a news release from the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
He is also sentenced to “five years of supervised release and $11,811 in restitution,” officials said.
The “amount stolen or attempted stolen as a result of the scheme exceeded $150,000,” prosecutors said.
Tsegay’s attorney declined to comment to McClatchy News.
The scheme
According to a criminal complaint, the Yeadon Borough Police Department had been investigating reports of mail theft in Delaware and Philadelphia counties since January 2021.
Working closely with two main co-conspirators — 21-year-old Zyier Williams and 23-year-old Fode Bangoura, both of Philadelphia —Tsegay used stolen Postal Service keys to access mail collection boxes in these counties, court records sow.
The men pulled checks from the stolen mail and chemically altered, or washed, them to change the name of the payee and increase the amount, authorities said.
They also recruited bank account holders who provided access to their online banking information, ATM pins, and debit cards as part of the scheme, according to court records.
These account holders were promised payment for the use of their accounts, records show.
The altered checks were made out to and deposited into the accounts of these individuals, then Tsegay and his co-conspirators would withdraw the the fraudulent funds, court records show.
Search warrant leads to arrest
On June 15, 2021, authorities initiated a traffic stop of a car being driven by Tsegay, according to court records.
Police had obtained a search warrant for the vehicle two weeks prior when surveillance footage captured a passenger of that same car opening a USPS collection bin and dumping the contents into the front seat, according to the complaint.
While executing the search warrant, police found a USPS arrow key, HEET antifreeze, known to be used to remove ink from checks, and “numerous checks, money orders, and debit cards,” according to the criminal complaint.
Tsegay was found with 19 debit cards hidden in the sole of his left shoe and more than 50 bank checks not belonging to him or his associates hidden under the sole of his right shoe, court records show.
Police searched Tsegay’s apartment and found two more USPS arrow keys as well as a “hamper filled with open and unopened mail,” according to the complaint.
Co-conspirators sentenced
Williams and Bangoura were each sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud charges, prosecutors said.
Bangoura was ordered to pay $7,711 in restitution, and Williams was ordered to pay $4,100, according to officials.
Current attorney information for Williams and Bangoura was not available.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Mail-theft scheme’s leader found with USPS keys and 50 stolen checks in shoe, feds say."
