Embezzlements and Financial Crimes

USPS OIG Investigations

Employee embezzlements may involve postal employees who steal money from cash drawers, sophisticated schemes involving the manipulation of postal money orders or money order funds, or the falsification of financial records. Financial investigations also cover activity such as theft, misconduct, falsification of records, and conversion and misuse of Postal Service property.

When post offices experience unusual or significant shortages, our investigators employ various investigative techniques to uncover embezzlements. Improper or lax procedures are reported to management for corrective action. However, when employees are found to be responsible for missing postal funds, they are reported to management for appropriate administrative action. Employee conduct that does not meet the criteria for criminal action can still be grounds for removal from the Postal Service. In cases that warrant criminal prosecution, offenders not only face the loss of their jobs, but also may face jail time and court-ordered restitution. Case examples include:

Convicted Former Postal Worker Ordered to Repay $410,000 to the Postal Service

A California federal court sentenced a former a Sales and Service Associate to 2 years in prison for embezzling $426,065.09 in postal money orders. The court also ordered the former employee to repay more than $410,000 of the money he stole from October 2003 to July 2005. The Sales and Service Associate admitted he engaged in a scheme to issue himself postal money orders by falsely noting that customers had purchased the money orders. He used the money for personal expenses and gambling. When The United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) special agents arrested the former postal employee, they recovered more than $13,000 in cash and more than $15,000 in blank money orders issued to the former postal employee.