(WWJ) A $63 million scheme involving tax refund and other checks stolen from mailboxes has been busted by the feds.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit says Jaiswan Williams, 31, of Rochester Hills, Dequan Foreman, 30, of Eastpointe, Vanessa Hargrove, 39, of Detroit, and Crystal Jenkins, 31, of Detroit, were charged with conspiracy to aid and abet bank and wire fraud.
Hargrove and Jenkins were United States Postal Service employees who diverted and allegedly stole checks and other negotiable instruments from the mail, including a high volume of tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury.
Williams and Foreman were the administrators of the online marketplaces used to sell the checks, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney.
Agents say the scheme worked with Hargrove and Jenkins providing the alleged stolen checks to Williams and Foreman in exchange for payments. Williams and Foreman would take those checks and market them for sale via Telegram Messenger.
One of the Telegram channels was named “Whole Foods Slipsss” and was used to advertise high-dollar checks, while another channel, named “Uber Eats Slips,” was used to advertise lower-dollar checks.
“When public employees break the public trust, they enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer and undermine the institution itself," United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in a statement. "We will find and prosecute those who exploit their position for personal gain. We are committed to disrupting these shadowy schemes.”
If convicted of conspiracy, the defendants face up to 30 years in prison.
Investigators say Williams also faces charges for money laundering for activities dating back to October 2022, and for millions of
dollars of fraudulent pandemic unemployment insurance benefit claims submitted between August and December 2020.