Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Eileen Neff, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Northeast Area Field Office of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (“USPS-OIG”), Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division (“IRS”), announced today the arrest of OSCAR LOPEZ in connection with a conspiracy to obtain over $1 million in fraudulently-issued tax refund checks from his U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) delivery route. The defendant, a USPS mail carrier, was arrested this morning and is expected to be presented later today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Oscar Lopez used his position as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier to steal over $1 million in taxpayer funds. The exemplary investigative work of the Postal Service Inspector General’s Office, the Postal Inspection Service, and the IRS put an end to Lopez’s alleged involvement in this scheme.”
USPS-OIG Special Agent in Charge said: “The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General aggressively investigates Postal Service employees who would abuse their position of trust. We value our law enforcement partners who work closely with us in matters like these.”
USPIS Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett said: “As a taxpayer and a United States Postal Service employee, I find the allegations against the defendant disturbing. I have little tolerance for those who would use their position of public trust to facilitate criminal activity, as is alleged in this investigation. Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners will put a stop to crime wherever it exists; keeping the mail safe and secure for its employees and customers.”
IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen said: “A fraudulent tax refund scheme is, essentially, the use of false pretenses to steal money from the U.S Treasury. Yet, despite this simple description, fraudulent tax refund fraud schemes can involve a web of co-conspirators who obtain taxpayer information, file the tax returns and secure and negotiate the refund checks. IRS-Criminal Investigation is responsible for investigating the abusers of our nation’s tax system, with the goals of safeguarding public funds and maintaining public confidence in the system.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:
From at least June 2010 to May 2012, LOPEZ typically delivered mail on an assigned route in ZIP code 10460 in the Bronx. LOPEZ obtained fraudulently-issued tax refund checks that had been mailed by the IRS to addresses along his delivery route. He then provided those checks to his co-conspirators, who returned a portion of the value of the checks to him. In total, over $1 million in fraudulently-issued tax refund checks that were mailed to LOPEZ’s delivery route ended up being negotiated against, or deposited into, a bank account associated with one of LOPEZ’s co-conspirators.
* * *
LOPEZ, 36, of Brooklyn, New York, is charged with one count of conspiring to steal government funds, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison, and one count of theft of government funds, which carries a maximum term of ten years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding work of the USPS-OIG, the USPIS, and the IRS in the investigation.
The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew Johnson-Skinner is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
I am a retired postal worker and I too have received within the past year at least three letters with the return receipt still attached. They just plop them in the mailbox and don’t try to get a signature and expect us to do their footwork for them and return it to the P.O. This is doing a disservice to the customers who pay extra money for this service and never get the receipt returned to them.
New hires with lower pay make it harder to get responsible people. Unions have ruined our jobs. We have a union rep who does nothing but union work on the clock and overtime instead of doing the job he was hired for. Shameful. I am a twenty year employees who started as a ptf. It at least had a sense of duty to the position. New hires come and go and don’t have a sense of duty. We will see a lot more of this. I feel the pay scale the old timers are on is good, but what’s the difference if you make a hundred dollars an hour and don’t have a job. Bad unions and poor management will sink us eventually.
This is pathetic. Dude betrayed the trust of his position by hijacking those innocent people’s tax return checks & deserves to be punished alongside the co-conspirators
Up he river…..you are an idiot…..A letter carrier steals and u talk about management. Letters carriers steal everyday when they request overtime for their route when it is an easy 8 hr day. The unions are killing jobs. Wake up.. You are pathetic….Unions are the problem, slow and slower doesn’t work, do your job and go home safe. Don’t make it longer or harder than it needs to. They agreed to the contract of CCA’S and their pay. Unions fault. Wake up
Well, I just feel sorry for his wife and kids. Just goes to show you, there is never a sure thing…..
I’ve known a lot of girls and guys, over the years to get popped and go to jail, for a sure thing…………….
Such a shame.
This went on for three years. I understand you have to have a good case, but it’s interesting how the OIG-USPS gets all the accolades but let the scam go on as long as they did. I’m glad this jerk got caught, and I hate the image people like him project against all decent letter carriers. But three years meant there was a time when customers had to have been complaining for a long time and were being ignored until it got too much to turn a deaf ear toward.
With the laziness we see in management today, accountable items are left on the accountable carts with nobody to clear them, nobody to follow up to see if said items were properly scanned and delivered, only to act if customers complain, and many don’t bother because they can’t get through constantly busy phone lines.
Today it’s all about blind speed, no training on proper handling of mail, paying attention to forward orders because it’s considered a time wasting practice, and encouraging CCA’s and new regulars to skip lunches and run like hell so when route inspections eventually roll around, management can cut routes and positions.
The bad part is, they’ll be justified to do so because either the new regulars keep the same mindset as when they were CCA’s, like ours do, casing sometimes two routes in the morning, a swing, and then still making it under eight, or the local union doesn’t try to teach them that they are killing jobs and making their transition to career positions that much farther away.
The incident here is only the beginning. Customers may get tired of their cranky old letter carriers, but if they think we’re bad, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
I totally believe the Postal Service is going down the tube once the old timers leave. When I entered the Post Office in 1982. I went through 2 weeks of training as a letter carrier. You learned about the classes and the importance of delivering the mail. The mail was sacred to me and still is. The new people do not feel this way. I have never seen so many misdeliveries in my career. Even at my own mailbox I received a certified letter with a return receipt. When I called supervisor he acted like no big deal. I have been a clerk for the last 30 years and just can’t believe how bad the service has become. I retire in 4 years and will continue to give the best service posible. It’s unfortunate because management does not care.