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Nine defendants, including three U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees, have been indicted in an alleged $1.3 million conspiracy of fraud and identity theft.
Nathanael Foucault, Johnathan Persaud and Fabiola Mompoint, all USPS employees, were allegedly conspiring since December 2018 to steal credit cards from the mail and use them at different high-end stores in the New York City area before selling the merchandise on the internet to rake in millions, according to a release last week from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
After intercepting the stolen credit cards in the mail stream, defendants allegedly intended to activate them using personally identifiable information stolen from the intended recipients. The DOJ said the scheme resulted in more than $1.3 million in intended losses and the theft of hundreds of identities.
U.S. Postal Service (USPS) trucks sit at a post office facility in Elkridge, Maryland, on Aug. 16, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Five people who were allegedly involved but not USPS employees remain at large, the DOJ said Thursday.
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"As alleged, the defendants engaged in a years-long scheme to manipulate credit card companies and major retailers across New York and New Jersey by stealing credit cards and using those cards to purchase, and subsequently sell, luxury goods," said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
A USPS deliveryman sorting in the back of his truck in Chicago, Illinois, on Sept. 10, 2015. (iStock)
"The defendants took advantage of the public trust we place in U.S. Postal Service employees for their own financial gain. Thanks to the diligence of USPIS, the NYPD, and USPS-OIG, the defendants will now be held accountable for their brazen criminal conduct," Williams added.
USPIS Inspector-in-Charge Daniel B. Brubaker called the alleged crimes an "elaborate scheme to defraud several national financial institutions."
A USPS (United States Postal Service) mail truck leaves for a delivery in Fullerton, Califnoria, on July 18, 2020. (iStock)
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"Make no mistake, the Postal Inspection Service will not allow thieves, no matter who they are, to use the U.S. Mail to harm postal customers or the financial institutions that serve them. We are pleased the members of this criminal syndicate have been apprehended, and their crime spree brought to an abrupt end," Brubaker added.
If convicted, the federal charges against the defendants carry lengthy prison sentences.
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