US Postal Service Workers Arrested Over $1.3 Million Credit Card Fraud and Theft Scheme

A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) truck leaves a postal facility in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 15, 2019. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Three U.S. Postal Service employees have been arrested in connection with a $1.3 million fraud and identity theft scheme in which they allegedly used stolen credit cards to purchase luxury items.

According to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Postal workers Nathanael Foucault, Johnathan Persaud, and Fabiola Mompoint were arrested Thursday in New York alongside a fourth individual, Devon Richards, who is not a postal worker.

Prosecutors said that the scheme began in or around December 2018 and continued up until recently and saw members of the scheme work with U.S. Postal Service mail carriers, including, among others, Mompoint, Foucault, and Persaud to steal credit cards from the mail before the cards were delivered to the actual card holder.

Once getting their hands on the stolen cards, members of the scheme were allegedly able to activate them using the stolen personal information of the actual card owner, according to prosecutors.

After the cards had been activated, members of the scheme then allegedly used the stolen cards to purchase luxury goods, including high-end designer items from stores such as Chanel, Fendi, Hermes, and Dior, as well as at major department stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey, among other places.

They are then said to have sold the fraudulently obtained luxury merchandise on the website LuxurySnob.com, according to prosecutors.

‘The Conduct Alleged Is Disgraceful’

“LuxurySnob purports to be an ‘online consignment and personal shopping company’ specializing in ‘pre-owned luxury items,’ but, in fact, many of the items it sells were purchased using stolen credit cards,” prosecutors said.

Five other individuals who were allegedly involved in the fraud and identity theft scheme still remain at large, the DOJ said. They face charges including conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges.

Each faces lengthy prison sentences ranging from two to 30 years if found guilty.

USPIS Inspector-in-Charge Daniel B. Brubaker said the defendants had “sought to enrich themselves by stealing mail directly from hundreds of postal customers.”

“They further compounded their crimes by committing identity theft against those customers to facilitate their elaborate scheme to defraud several national financial institutions,” Brubaker added.

USPS-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Modafferi said: “The Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General will continue to maintain the integrity of the U.S. Postal Service and its personnel. The conduct alleged is disgraceful, and our office will continue to vigorously investigate postal service employees and their co-conspirators who violate the public’s trust.”

The U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General’s website states that it conducted 1,472 mail theft investigations between October 2020 through September 2021, resulting in 453 arrests, and the recovery of more than $162,000 in funds.

The Epoch Times has contacted the U.S. Postal Service for comment.