YOU WERE EXPECTING A CHECK IN THE MAIL AND IT NEVER ARRIVED ..... JOIN THE CROWD

Mail theft victims have lost faith in U.S. Postal Service 

 

By José Mendiola and Trace Harris        

       

The Galveston County Daily News

October 14, 2022

 

 

GALVESTON -- It’s an average day spent relaxing at home until your bank calls to say someone you’ve never heard of has cashed a $13,000 check against your account.

That’s what happened to Galveston resident Joe Blackshear, just one of the many victims of the more than $1 million mail theft and check fraud enterprise involving Galveston’s Bob Lyons Post Office and the drop boxes it services.

Blackshear had written a check for $6,200 to his credit card company. He dropped it in a blue U.S. Postal Service box at 62nd Street and Stewart Road.

It was altered through a chemical process called washing and negotiated for $13,000, he said.

Over the past few weeks, The Daily News has interviewed six people with stories similar to Blackshear’s. They were stung for various amounts totaling $141,000. They form a small sample of a much larger group of victims, including at least 140 cases totaling more than $1 million reported to the Galveston Police Department.

Among them is a Galveston resident who mailed a check written for $240 that was stolen, washed and negotiated for $86,000. He declined to be named, but said it took about six months to recover his money.

CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

The victims show the human costs of a large, perhaps global, criminal enterprise feeding on the U.S. Mail, trafficking stolen checks and U.S. Postal Service master keys on the darknet, which perhaps has been abetted by high-level decisions at the U.S. Postal Service.

And although the canceled checks provided names of people involved in the crimes, and information about when and where the stolen checks were fraudulently negotiated, it’s unclear what the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are doing to combat the crimes and bring the criminals to justice.

Federal officials charged with ensuring the security of the U.S. Mail have so far declined to acknowledge a problem in Galveston, to discuss the possibility there might be a problem in Galveston, to discuss how they might respond if there were a problem in Galveston or be interviewed about such problems just in general.

One thing is clear, however, the thefts are causing a loss of faith in the integrity of the U.S. Mail.

HANDWRITING ON THE CHECK

“It was like any other day,” Blackshear said. “I was at my house when the bank called. They said they had found a check written for the amount of $13,000 that was cashed at some bank in Houston.”

Local bank officials told Blackshear they knew something was amiss as soon as they saw the handwriting on the check, Blackshear said.

“You feel terrible that this has happened to you,” Blackshear said. “You have to go through the process of canceling checking accounts and getting in contact with those you pay your bills to.

“Even now you wonder to yourself when this is going to happen again,” Blackshear said.

Blackshear, who recovered his money after weeks of work, now avoids mailing payments when he can.

“This has affected my trust in the U.S. Postal Service,” Blackshear said. “I feel bad for the poor postal people who have had their keys stolen. Unfortunately, this makes you question how the Postal Service is operating today.”

‘A NIGHTMARE’

Shirley Dougherty, 84, a retired University of Texas Medical Branch nurse, learned money was missing from her account by reviewing a bank statement.

Dougherty had mailed the check written for $300 in a drop box at Bob Lyons Post Office, 5826 Broadway. It was stolen, washed and cashed for $3,216 by a woman she had never heard of, she said.

Her check was stolen and washed in April, and six months later, in October, she still was trying to sort out the consequences.

“I’m still going through all these bank accounts that I have to change,” Dougherty said. “It’s been a terrible and long experience.”

Dougherty also has lost faith in the U.S. Postal Service, she said.

“I’ve been trying to avoid drop boxes as much as I can,” she said. “Every time I give a check to the U.S Postal Service, I hope it doesn’t get stolen.”

Dougherty has been reimbursed, but worries about being victimized again, she said.

“I hope this is the last time this ever happens,” Dougherty said. “I don’t have a lot of money, but I’ve got a bit saved and I don’t want those thieves getting to that. It has been a nightmare.”

‘I WAS FLOORED’

Claire Reiswerg, co-owner of Sand ‘N Sea Properties, received a letter from the IRS claiming she didn’t pay her 2020 taxes.

“When I read the notice, I thought it was odd because I knew I had paid them,” Reiswerg said.

She had mailed two personal checks for $3,681 each made out to the U.S. Treasury at the counter inside the Bob Lyons Post Office, she said.

They were stolen and washed to show a payee named Vincent Gomez, who she had never heard of, Reiswerg said.

“I was perplexed, because I know I paid my taxes on time,’’ Reiswerg said. “When I opened the check online and saw it was clearly doctored, I was floored.”

“I did pay my taxes,” Reiswerg said. “Just the wrong entity cashed it.”

Reiswerg still has not recovered the $7,362 stolen from her account and was assessed a penalty for paying her taxes late, she said.

“The bank said it was my problem because I had waited too late,” Reiswerg said.

She no longer trusts the Galveston post office, she said.

“I think twice every time I put something inside a drop box,” Reiswerg said. “I don’t trust the mail service anymore. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t.

“I don’t have confidence that anyone has done something about these thefts. I expect it to happen again.”

UNDER SUSPICION

Businesses also have been hurt by the postal thieves, said Kitten Strahan, broker and owner of Leopold & Strahan Realty Group.

The group mails commission checks twice a month and three times those checks have been stolen, washed and fraudulently negotiated, she said.

On Aug. 12, an employee of the realty group went to the Bob Lyons post office to mail checks, Strahan said.

“Employees closed the door in his face at 5 p.m. and told him to drop the checks in the drop box,” Strahan said.

“We had three commission checks sent to three brokerages and then we get calls saying they haven’t received the checks.”

On Aug. 25, a check originally written for $450 was cashed for $9,125 by a man named Deron Baltimore, she said.

The second check, altered to $9,000, was paid to a man named Ronnie Jones, she said.

The third check was stolen, altered to $4,267 and cashed by a woman named Stephanie Williams, she said.

The thefts have been an especially bad problem for Strahan and her company, she said.

So far, she has gotten very little cooperation from the local post office, she said.

“When the company went to confront the post office, they claimed they didn’t have cameras that surveil the drop boxes,” Strahan said.

“These thieves are hurting people who are single mothers, people who are old and people who are working day and night,” Strahan said. “It just brings a tear to your eye.”

LOSS OF FAITH

Along with the money and personal pain and suffering associated with the crimes is a widespread loss of confidence in the security of the U.S. Mail, numerous sources of all kinds have said.

The U.S. Postal Service has long been considered the crown jewel of the federal government, with a 91 percent favorable rating, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center study.

But that positive perception could be in danger as Americans continue to see their mail and money targeted, said Frank Albergo, national president of the Postal Police Officers Association, a labor union.

Albergo attributes much of the problem to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who, along with Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale on Aug. 25, 2020, decided to effectively defund the Postal Police Officers.

The post office, local banks and U.S. Rep. Randy Weber need to come together to discuss how they can prevent these crimes, Reiswerg said.

“These thieves have changed the way Galvestonians do business and view the post office,” Reiswerg said. “They have made people doubt the U.S. Postal Service. They’ve disrupted everything and they have succeeded.”