According to a court document cited by Wtopnews, a US Postal Service employee in Washington, DC, is accused of stealing almost USD 1.7 million from the city’s citizens.
According to the Wtopnews website, a civil forfeiture petition ordered the seizure of USD 402,669.95 from a bank account that was allegedly controlled by Hachikosela Khose Muchimba, a US Postal Service employee, at the Friendship Post Office Station.
According to Wtopnews, officials think the sum may be less than half of the entire amount of illicit deposits made across eight bank accounts.
The news website Wtopnews is situated in Washington, DC.
The petition further said that Muchimba had deposited about 98 stolen checks totaling USD 1,697,909.52 into those accounts. And at least 90 of the stolen cheques came from the US Treasury.
Checks taken from homes going back to December 13, 2021 were included in the investigation; Muchimba started working as a postal carrier on February 16, 2020, and she was assigned to the disputed route on January 31, 2021.
Investigators concluded that Muchimba changed US Treasury checks, inserted his name, and then deposited them using mobile applications to bank accounts.
The complaint indicates that after a search warrant was issued on March 29, law officers also found receipts for the deposit of more than USD 400,000 into a bank account in Olney, Maryland, according to Wtopnews.
According to the prosecution, Muchimba was identified as a possible account holder after someone observed that the name on an altered check matched one on Christmas cards the company had sent to locals in December.
The report also shows the mailman withdrawing up to $1,000 from the specified accounts at nearby ATMs.
On four further dates—September 20, 22, 28, and October 6—”surveillance photographs captured the same person withdrawing USD $1,000…,” the complaint said. “The person appears to be wearing US Postal Service clothing typically worn by employees in three of the surveillance photos.”
The US Postal Service Inspector General officials informed “our news partners at NBC Washington that an investigation is ongoing,” and a USPS spokeswoman confirmed that the employee is still listed on the USPS roster. However, Muchimba is referred to as a “former” postal service employee in documents from the attorney general, according to Wtopnews.
