Former Postal Service employees charged in $80M fraud scheme

Federal authorities in Philadelphia apprehended and charged four individuals accused of executing a multimillion-dollar postal fraud scheme. The suspects allegedly orchestrated a plot to steal and resell U.S. Treasury checks.

According to a superseding indictment, the operation spanned from June 2023 to September 2024, during which time Tauheed Tucker, 23, and Saahir Irby, 27, both employed as U.S. Postal Service mail processing clerks at the Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center, reportedly stole thousands of envelopes containing U.S. Treasury checks from mail sorting machines. The checks were then allegedly sold to two other defendants.

Investigators contend that Cory Scott, 25, and Alexander Telewoda, 25, advertised the stolen financial instruments via Telegram, a cloud-based instant messaging app, where they found interested buyers nationwide. They mailed the checks to buyers, who attempted to cash them without the knowledge of people to whom the checks had been originally issued.

The combined face value of the stolen Treasury checks exceeded $80 million. Scott’s and Telewoda’s customers managed to collect approximately $11 million worth of these stolen checks at financial institutions.