A Detroit-based mailman is facing serious federal charges after being caught in a scheme to defraud agencies of COVID-19 pandemic-era unemployment benefits, CBS News Detroit reports.
Christopher Powell admitted, after being caught by his supervisor, to using addresses from his delivery route in an effort to get unemployment insurance benefits. The federal criminal complaint alleges the scheme took place in Wayne County between July 2020 and April 2024.
Powell’s plan unraveled when a supervisor at the Jefferson Station Post Office noticed Powell was getting mail addressed to homes on his delivery route, where he does not live.
The unidentified supervisor then contacted the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (US-OIG) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to prompt an investigation. The mailman told authorities that he filed an unemployment claim in Michigan in 2020 while being on “COVID Leave” from the mail agency and claimed he hadn’t received benefits from other states.
But that wasn’t the case.
The investigation revealed other unemployment insurance claims were filed by Powell with his social security number and birthdate in Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. He later admitted that a friend applied for unemployment insurance benefits in California on his behalf using his personal information.
According to Click On Detroit, after authorities showed the disgraced mailman pieces of mail addressed to him with addresses on his delivery route, he admitted to using vacant addresses along his route in order to have mail delivered to him instead of his own residence. One piece of mail confiscated during the investigation was a bank statement from Dec. 26, 2023 through Jan. 25, 2024 that detailed more than $25,000 in ATM withdrawals and Cash App transfers.
Powell faces mail and wire fraud charges after the USPS-OIG found an additional 26 claims filed with his home address. Seven of them were successfully granted in Michigan and Arizona.
Court documents highlight how criminals are able to pull off such schemes, starting with falsely obtaining funds and depositing them into a bank account. After funds are used or taken out, criminals then contact the bank and claim someone falsely gained access to their account and dispute all of the charges.
Financial institutions often believe the “customer” and will refund all the disputed transactions, leaving the criminal room to spend the funds.
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