October 15, 2009

The Honorable Paul Hodes
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Attention: Sarah Levin

Dear Mr. Hodes:

We received your May 21 letter on behalf of the New Hampshire branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). They alleged manipulation of the Time and Attendance Collection System (TACS) by management at the Milford Post Office, Manchester South Station, and Manchester West Station. Specifically, they alleged postal management altered electronic timecards to avoid paying NALC carriers overtime and to falsify the reporting of work hour usage at these facilities.

As background, TACS is the timekeeping system used by the Postal Service to record employees’ work time and to ensure proper payment. TACS also manages budgeted work hours for each facility. Employees are assigned an individual identification card, bearing a magnetic stripe encoded with their personal information. Employees use their cards at an Electronic Badge Reader (EBR). The employees enter the type of clock ring and operation number, if applicable, and then slide their cards through the EBR. This produces a record of the date, time, type of clock ring, and the operation number to TACS.

Every week, postal managers reconcile and download TACS data to the Accounting Service Center (ASC) in Minnesota, which collates this information and uses it to generate employee paychecks. Managers have manual access to the TACS in order to approve overtime and correct timekeeping errors before the information is downloaded to the ASC. Manual access to TACS is individually password protected. When a postal manager makes a manual change, TACS records the nature of the change, the date, time, and the Employee Identification Number of the person making the change.

We conducted an investigation, which included interviews and a review of records and documents. We concluded that management at the Milford Post Office made manual entries to change employees’ clock rings for the period of December 14, 2002, through December 19, 2008. These changes resulted in the removal of straight time, overtime, night differential, and penalty overtime causing, employees to be underpaid. Additionally, we found an apparent flaw in the way that TACS handles hours worked by clerks who also perform carrier work for part of their day. This flaw causes an unintentional loss of pay to employees. We forwarded our findings to postal management for action they deem appropriate.

We concluded that manual entries to change employees’ clock rings were made by management to TACS at the Manchester South Station for the period of December 22, 2007, through June 26, 2009, and at the Manchester West Station for the period of December 23, 2006, through June 26, 2009. These changes resulted in the removal of night differential and overtime causing employees to be underpaid. We forwarded our findings to postal management for action they deem appropriate.

After we began our investigation, we widened our scope to include two other nearby locations, specifically the Somersworth Post Office and the Salem Post Office. Our investigation concluded that at the Somersworth Post Office for the period of the December 22, 2007, through June 12, 2009, and at the Salem Post Office for the period December 22, 2007, through July 1, 2009, manual entries were made to TACS. Management changed employees Move clock rings from one operation number to another, which caused work hours to be posted to operations employees apparently did not perform. These changes resulted in misstatements of budgeted work hour activity at the facilities. These findings were also forwarded to postal management for action.

If you or your staff have any questions related to your inquiry, please contact Betsy Cuthbertson in our Congressional Response unit at (703) 248-2270.

Sincerely,

Lance Carrington
Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations

The U.S. Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California issued the following press release:

Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that DAVID ALLEN GIBSON, 42, of Sacramento, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge John A. Mendez to 21 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release for possessing items stolen from the U.S. Mail and for possession of a loaded firearm. He was also ordered to pay restitution.

This case was the product of extensive investigation by the U. S. Postal Inspection Service.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez, who prosecuted the case, on September 26, 2008 a registered mail bag was stolen from a locked U.S. Postal Service truck in Sacramento County. The bag contained cash from the daily receipts of the Carmichael Post Office, a $400 money order, basketball cards, cremated human remains, and eight unique gold coins valued at $1, 393.

On October 31, 2008, GIBSON pawned two coins: a 1373-75 Iran Azadi gold coin, and a 1926 Netherlands 10 gulden gold coin. Then on November 8, 2009, he sold an 1876 German 20 mark gold coin to a coin shop. Both times he used his own driver’s license for identification.

On November 18, 2008, federal agents executed a search warrant on GIBSON’s residence where they found the basketball trading cards and the remaining five gold coins: a 1979 South Africa gold coin, a 1923 Turkey gold coin, an 1875 Belgium 20 francs gold coin, a 1348 Iran 1/2 pahalavi gold coin, and an 1882 R Italy 20 lira gold coin. GIBSON, a previously convicted felon, was in possession of a loaded 380 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

After his arrest, the cremated human remains anonymously were returned via deposit in a Sacramento blue mail box. The theft from the U.S. Postal Service Truck is unsolved and anyone having information concerning the crime are encouraged to contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. GIBSON pleaded guilty on March 3, 2009.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar,Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Postal Inspection Service sources say that an armed perpetrator robbed the Ampere Station, 75 4th Ave, East Orange, NJ at around 8:15 this morning. There were no injuries. More details as they become available.

The following information was released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana:

MICHAEL COLEMAN, age 35, a resident of Marrero, Louisiana, pled guilty today in front of United States District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman to a one count bill of information for theft of government funds, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to court documents, in May, 2008, MICHAEL COLEMAN, who was previously employed as a letter carrier at the Main Post Office in Gretna, Louisiana, admitted that he found and stole six blank postal money orders at the post office. According to court documents, these postal money orders were “bait” money orders, meaning they were money orders that could be tracked upon their usage by the United States Postal Service. After stealing the six postal money orders, COLEMAN deposited one of them in his personal bank account, gave some of them to his family members, and sold the rest. In all, the bait postal money orders were worth $1,215. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 20, 2009.

The single count carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, three years supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.

The case was investigated by agents from the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Matt Chester.

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury indicted Marvin Lamont Foster, age 54, of Rosedale, Maryland, and Kyle Mathias, age 23, of Joppa, Maryland, today for conspiracy to steal from the United States Postal Service (USPS), announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

“Anyone who buys stamps at a discount should be on notice of the risk that they are purchasing stolen property,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the indictment, Foster was a window clerk at the Elkridge Post Office, having been employed there since 1998. First class postage stamps are provided by USPS to local post offices packaged in “bricks” which consist of 2,000 stamps valued at $840 per brick and “coils” which consist of 100 stamps valued at $42. The indictment alleges that from June 2008 through March 2009, Foster stole “bricks” and “coils” of stamps from the post office, which he provided to Mathias and others to sell. Mathias sold the stamps through an account he set up on E-bay. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $682,809.11, alleged to be the proceeds of the scheme.

Foster and Mathias face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Sandra Wilkinson and Rachel M. Yasser, who are prosecuting the case.

The following information was released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas:

Former rural carrier associate Rodney Ervin has been sentenced to prison for mail theft, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.

U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon sentenced Ervin to one month imprisonment on the mail theft count, one month for the access device count to run concurrently. He will also serve a two-year mandatory statutory maximum sentence for the aggravated identity theft count, to run consecutively for a total of a 25-month sentence. Indicted on July 17, 2008, Ervin pleaded guilty on Nov. 7, 2008, admitting he stole mail containing credit cards from customers residing along Rural Route 127, delivered out of the Bear Creek Station located on Cairnway Drive in Houston.

Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) initiated an investigation upon receiving a customer complaint advising use of a Chase MasterCard credit card stolen from the mail. Follow-up investigation revealed two additional Chase credit cards stolen from the mail. USPS-OIG agents determined Ervin had been assigned to the effected route when the reported mail losses had occurred. In addition, Ervin was captured and identified from video surveillance at various merchant locations using the credit cards and signing the legitimate customers’ names. The customers advised they did not authorize Ervin possession or use of their credit cards and Ervin was identified as being responsible for $2,517.52 in fraudulent charges.

Following the sentencing of another rural carrier associate in just less than two weeks, also resulting in the mandatory two-year-term, once again, the USPS reiterates: “Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and is a serious federal offense,” said Max Eamiguel, Executive Special Agent-in-Charge, USPS-OIG, Southwest Field Office. “The American public trusts the Postal Service to deliver its mail intact. When a postal employee betrays that trust and steals mail, then uses stolen financial information to wreak havoc in the lives of our citizens, Special Agents of the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General investigate. Fortunately, these incidents are not common and the overwhelming majority of the 700,000 postal employees are honest and hard working. With the prosecutive support of the United States Attorney’s Office, we will aggressively pursue any employee committing a postal crime.”

Ervin began his employment with the United States Postal Service as a rural carrier associate on Aug. 28, 1999. His employment has since been terminated.

Ervin will be allowed to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on within 45 days. In addition to the 25 months sentence plus the mandatory two-year prison term, Judge Melinda Harmon also imposed a two-term of supervised release to begin following his release from prison and further ordered he pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $2,517.52.

The investigation leading to Ervin’s indictment and arrest was conducted by Special Agents with USPS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Tammie Y. Moore.

The following information was released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas:

Former rural carrier associate LaNardsha Rose has been sentenced to prison for aggravated identity theft, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.

U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller sentenced Rose to two years imprisonment, the mandatory statutory maximum sentence today. Indicted in April 2008, Rose pleaded guilty on Dec. 8, 2008, admitting she stole mail from three customers residing along an assigned delivery route. Rose stole mail containing several boxes of personal checks addressed to two different postal customers and a MasterCard credit card destined for a third postal customer. The effected customers resided on Route 116 and Route 69 delivered out of the Copperfield Carrier Annex on Highway 6 North in Houston.

Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) initiated an investigation upon receiving customer complaints. As a rural carrier associate Rose was not assigned to one permanent route; however, USPS-OIG agents determined Rose had been assigned to the effected routes when the reported mail losses had occurred. In addition, Rose was captured and identified from video surveillance attempting to pass one of the customer’s stolen checks made payable to “LaNardsha Rose.” In addition, at least two other checks made payable to “LaNardsha Rose” cleared the second victim’s account. Rose’s cell phone number was also captured in connection with an inquiry seeking information about the stolen Mastercard account. Rose was later identified making several purchases using the card. She was also captured on video surveillance using the card and signing the legitimate customer’s name iIn connection with one of the purchases

“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and is a serious federal offense,” said Max Eamiguel, Executive Special Agent-in-Charge, Office of Inspector General, USPS, Southwest Field Office. “The American public trusts the Postal Service to deliver its mail intact. When a postal employee betrays that trust and steals mail, then uses stolen financial information to wreak havoc in the lives of our citizens, Special Agents of the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General investigate. Fortunately, these incidents are not common, and the overwhelming majority of the 700,000 postal employees are honest and hard working. With the prosecutive support of the United States Attorney’s Office, we will aggressively pursue any employee committing a postal crime.”

Rose began her employment with the United States Postal Service as a rural carrier associate in December 2006. Her employment has since been terminated.

Rose will be allowed to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons in two weeks. In addition to the mandatory prison term, Judge Miller also imposed a one-year-term of supervised release to begin following her release from prison and further ordered she pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $1304.04.

The investigation leading to Rose’s indictment and arrest was conducted by Special Agents with USPS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Tammie Y. Moore.

Department of Justice Press release:

Little Rock – Jane W. Duke, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the waiver of indictment and guilty plea of Andre Ben of Sherwood, Arkansas.

On January 29, 2009, Ben pled guilty to one count of theft of mail by a postal employee before Chief United States District Judge J. Leon Holmes. Ben faces a statutory sentence of up to five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both. In addition, any term of imprisonment will be followed by up to three years of supervised release. A sentencing date will be set by the court at a later date.

According to the Information, Ben served as the Acting Officer-in-Charge of the England, Arkansas Post Office from November 2006 until May 2008. While in that position, Ben stole cash and money orders from the United States Mail that was intended for Charles Capps Ministries. Ben then converted those funds for his own use and benefit. The Ministry estimates that it suffered a loss of over $38,000. Specific loss calculations will be determined at sentencing.

Duke stated, “Theft by any governmental official is a very serious matter. But, when you couple this type of abuse with the fact that the official was stealing from a charitable institution, the conduct becomes even more egregious.” She added, “Our Office and the Office of Inspector General for the Postal Service are committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting those individuals who abuse their positions of public trust.”

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Whatley is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Columbia, South Carolina – United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated today that Diane T. Williams, age 38, of Lamar, South Carolina, was indicted for theft by a postal employee. Federal officials allege that Williams stole postal funds while working at the Hartsville Post Office from June 2007 to June 2008.

The maximum penalty Williams could receive is a fine of $250,000.00 and imprisonment for 10 years.
Mr. Wilkins stated that the case was investigated by agents of the United States Postal Service and that he has assigned the case to Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II of the Florence office for prosecution.

The following information was released by the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

Today, a Gill woman was arraigned on charges she schemed to fraudulently collect over $25,000 in federal workers’ compensation benefits and intimidated a witness. Barbara McComb, age 45, was charged with Larceny by False Pretenses (4 counts) and Witness Intimidation.

On November 19, 2003, McComb was injured in a fall while working as a letter carrier for the United States Post Office (USPS) in Northfield, MA. In December 2003, McComb allegedly started her own business, Long Arm Quilting, out of her home.

According to authorities, McComb’s claim for federal workers’ compensation was accepted by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) in April 2004 and she began receiving benefits in June 2004 through July 2006, including back payments from March 2004 to June 2004. During this time period, McComb allegedly failed to report her self-employment to DOL or the Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (OWCP).

For each of the four claim forms that McComb was required to file with OWCP between March 2004 and July 2006, authorities allege she failed to report any employment, salary or earnings of any kind. According to authorities, in November 2007, McComb allegedly intimidated a former customer who spoke to investigators from USPS regarding McComb’s alleged employment status. The alleged fraudulent activities were initially detected by investigators from the OWCP and USPS who referred the case to the Attorney General’s Office. Authorities allege McComb fraudulently collected payments totaling $25,431.09.

McComb was arraigned today in Greenfield District Court at which time she entered a plea of not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. McComb is due back in court on March 20, 2009, for a pre-trial conference. District Court Judge Arthur F. Haley III presided over the arraignment

The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant Attorney General Michael J. Walsh of Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Division with assistance from investigator Luke Goldworm of the Attorney General’s Office. The USPS also assisted in this investigation.