New York Postal Workers Get Arrested For $750,000 in Credit Card Thefts
We always hope our important mail, especially our credit cards and personal information are safe in the hands of postal workers, but in this case, our trust has been violated. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the indictment of ten people, including New York postal workers for stealing $750,000 in an identity theft ring. The ring operated between January 2017 and August 2019. Kennisha Murrell, Curquan Highsmith, Bruce Bienvenu, and Kenneth Freeman, all postal mail carriers, were allegedly paid to intercept and steal credit cards from their routes in New York City and Virginia. The alleged ringleader Michael Richards recruited each of the postal workers and paid them based on how well the credit cards they stole performed.
United States Postal Service Inspector in Charge, Philip R. Bartlett said we shouldn't lose trust in the post office,
“The USPS has more than 640,000 professional and dedicated employees. Unfortunately, we occasionally identify a few bad actors who are swiftly removed from government service. Today’s arrests of this gang of criminals is an example of the commitment of Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners to bring those to justice for illegal acts against the public, no matter where they are found.”
Also indicted were:
- Michael Richards was the alleged ringleader of the scam
- Shamar Haughton was allegedly a courier in the scheme
- Justin Forgenie allegedly researched personal information about the cardholders via online databases
- Tatiana Smith allegedly used the credit cards to make purchases that could be resold or returned for cash
- Suzana and David Mikaylova allegedly allowed the group to make unauthorized transactions at their jewelry store