Philly Leader

Four men from the Philadelphia area have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in schemes to alter and deposit checks stolen from U.S. Postal Service (USPS) collection boxes. The sentences were announced by United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero.

Naod Tsegay, 25, of Collingdale, Pennsylvania; Fode Bangoura, 23, of Philadelphia; and Zyier Williams, 21, also of Philadelphia, were sentenced by United States District Judge Paul S. Diamond for their roles in the fraudulent activities. Najae Thomas, 24, of Philadelphia was sentenced separately by United States District Judge Wendy Beetlestone.

Tsegay received a sentence of 42 months' imprisonment along with five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $11,811 in restitution. He had pleaded guilty earlier this year to multiple charges including bank fraud and possession of stolen USPS keys.

Bangoura and Williams pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud charges and were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. Bangoura was ordered to pay $7,711 in restitution while Williams was required to pay $4,100.

The scheme involved recruiting individuals who provided their bank account information for depositing altered checks stolen from blue USPS collection boxes throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. The defendants altered these checks by changing the designated payees and increasing the amounts before depositing them into recruits’ accounts.

In addition to possessing numerous stolen checks and money orders from USPS boxes, Tsegay was found with three USPS Arrow Keys used for accessing collection boxes across several zip codes. The total amount involved in the scheme exceeded $150,000.

Najae Thomas operated a separate check-washing scheme intending losses over $200,000. Found with hundreds of stolen checks and four USPS Arrow Keys, Thomas pleaded guilty to similar charges as Tsegay and received a sentence of 61 months in prison along with three years' supervised release plus restitution payments totaling $61,688.

U.S. Attorney Romero stated: “When Naod Tsegay...was arrested...police recovered multiple stolen keys capable of unlocking every blue USPS box across four local zip codes.” She emphasized that targeting the U.S. Postal Service would not be tolerated: “As these cases prove...you will be held accountable.”

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from Yeadon Borough Police Department under prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice.