The U.S. Postal Service offers lower postage rates to mailers who automate and sort their mail by zip code because these steps save the Postal Service time and money. Mailers use the services of businesses such as Quicksort that combine the mail of many customers and pre-sort it in order to qualify for the pre-sort discounts. After processing customers’ mail, these pre-sort businesses present the mail to the Postal Service for mailing.

The settlement resolves allegations that the Quicksort companies misrepresented the pre-sort level of mail they submitted to the U.S. Postal Service at various times in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

“Making false claims to obtain discounted postage rates is dishonest, and such conduct interferes with the Postal Service’s effort to swiftly and accurately deliver the mail,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “We will hold businesses accountable for underpaying for postage and will ensure that taxpayer funds are protected from fraud and abuse.”

“The Postal Service enters into mailing agreements with entities such as QuickSort to help ensure the US mail is collected, prepared, and delivered as cost effectively and efficiently as possible,” said Benjamin B. Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. “When a pre-sort business overstates the level of presorting it has performed, the Postal Service not only pays for services not rendered, but then also has to incur the costs of sorting the mail to its proper ZIP Code. The False Claims Act provides a powerful remedy when this activity occurs.”

“The Postal Inspection Service investigates these types of cases to not only protect the Postal Service but also protect the mailing community from those who seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage,” stated Postal Inspector-in-Charge Adam P. Behnen.

The settlement was reached by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the matter.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is working with law enforcement agents from the FBI and ATF, as well as local and state agencies, to investigate two explosivedevices sent to financial institutions since Jan. 31.

While the investigation continues, Postal Inspectors are encouraging the financial industry to re-examine their procedures for handling correspondence and packages. Any business can download a poster for their staff that includes information on identifying suspicious packages and reporting them to authorities. Companies may also request copies of the poster by contacting their local Post Office or by calling 1-800 ASK-USPS.

The U.S. Postal Service has its employees nationwide on high alert to identify suspicious packages; they receive training in the identification and proper handling procedures for packages that may be hazardous or dangerous.

Keeping the mail safe is and will continue to be the highest priority of the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Williams was responding to an article by Bell in the November/December 2005 issue of the APWU’s American Postal Worker magazine, entitled ‘What’s Behind the Changes in Internal Investigations?’. Bell wrote that “You have the right to remain silent. A historic Supreme Court ruling (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966) holds that not only must a law enforcement officer advise an individual of certain rights, the officer must be sure that these rights are understood.”

In his letter, Williams responds “I am concerned that the article incorrectly states that APWU members have an unequivocal right to remain silent during an interview by the Office of the Inspector General by virtue of Miranda v. Arizona. The article suggests that OIG agents must provide Miranda warnings to all employees prior to their interview, and that the employee may always refuse to answer questions absent a grant of immunity. This is incorrect.”

Which, not surprisingly, provoked a response from Bell.

‘What’s Behind the Changes in Internal Investigations?’

Letter from IG David Williams to the APWU’s Greg Bell

Letter from Greg Bell to David Williams