Former USPS workers charged in $4.9 million Treasury check theft

ATLANTA – Federal authorities indicted 4 individuals, together with two former postal workers and a financial institution supervisor, for an enormous fraud scheme involving a stolen $4.9 million US Treasury check and identification theft.

Federal costs in check fraud scheme

What we all know:

US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg introduced costs towards Francina Sutton, Tonya Bailey, Shanda Goode and Carnisha Hamilton for his or her roles in a long-running mail theft and financial institution fraud operation.

Authorities say Goode and Hamilton, whereas working as mail carriers in Atlanta and Marietta, stole checks and bank cards to promote to Sutton between March 2020 and September 2025.

Sutton additionally allegedly labored with Bailey, an assistant financial institution supervisor in Alpharetta, to launder a stolen $4.9 million US Treasury check by opening accounts in the names of unsuspecting victims.

The group efficiently deposited the multimillion-dollar check, and Sutton later withdrew $300,000 utilizing cashier’s checks earlier than the US Secret Service seized the remaining funds.

Ongoing investigation particulars

What we do not know:

While 4 people have been charged, officers haven’t specified if they’re looking for further suspects who could have bought stolen mail from the carriers.

The actual motivation behind the selection of the precise financial institution department past Bailey’s employment there has not been launched.

Court dates for the trial following as we speak’s arraignment haven’t but been added to the general public schedule.

History of the mail theft operation

The backstory:

The scheme allegedly started in March 2020 and concerned mail stolen from the Ralph McGill Post Office in Atlanta and the Marietta Main Post Office.

In one occasion in December 2023, Hamilton is accused of stealing three dozen items of mail containing monetary paperwork throughout a single supply run.

Sutton, who has prior convictions for forgery and identification fraud, allegedly wore masks to the financial institution to open the fraudulent accounts used for the laundering.

Impact of the fraud case

By the numbers:

• $4.9 million: The worth of the stolen US Treasury check the group tried to launder.
• $4.7 million: The amount of cash federal brokers efficiently seized from the fraudulent accounts.
• 36: The variety of checks and bank cards stolen by one service in a single day.
• 5: The variety of years the alleged conspiracy lasted earlier than the indictment.

Legal proceedings and penalties

What’s subsequent:

The 4 defendants are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday earlier than US Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Sommerfeld.

Sutton faces a number of costs together with conspiracy, financial institution fraud, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The United States authorities is looking for to formally forfeit the $4.7 million seized by the Secret Service as a part of the felony case.