Almost all postal employees are honest, hard-working individuals. However, there are a few bad apples, and the role our Office of Investigations has in protecting the mail and the American public has never been more important. This is especially true as mail theft rises and criminals increasingly target the Postal Service’s vast network and its employees to further their schemes.
Making up more than half our workforce, our Office of Investigations covers seven major program areas to protect USPS from fraud, waste, and abuse. Here’s how each is stepping up to meet the threats and challenges the Postal Service faces today.
Mail Theft: Our focus continues to be on postal employees who steal from the mail or willfully delay or destroy it. However, with the help of our Organized Crime Investigative Unit, we also investigate external criminal organizations that target, recruit, and collude with postal employees to steal financial instruments and other valuables from the mail. Our latest digital story features a case where our special agents partnered with other law enforcement organizations to dismantle a New York City bling ring responsible for stealing more than 1,000 credit cards and committing more than $2 million in estimated fraud!
In 2024, the upcoming election is on our minds. Our Internal Mail Theft division is also part of a task force responsible for ensuring the safe and timely delivery of election and political mail.
Narcotics: We investigate cases in which postal employees steal narcotics parcels for personal use, but our biggest cases involve employees colluding with drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). And while our special agents are expertly trained to identify suspicious parcels in the mail, collaboration with other law enforcement agencies on these cases is often key. Our digital story on narcotics shows how our agents worked with partner agencies to bring down an entire DTO trafficking drugs into the mainland from Puerto Rico. Be prepared for a major plot twist.
Health Care Claimant Fraud: Can you imagine milking an ankle injury to receive workers’ compensation for over 14 years? That’s what one former employee brazenly did before our special agents brought her to justice. Our Health Care Claimant Fraud division goes after postal employees who defraud the Postal Service to receive unearned benefits and compensation.
Health Care Provider Fraud: Similarly, this division investigates providers, staff, and marketers who defraud USPS through the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. Fraudulent health care providers defraud the U.S. Government by ordering bogus prescriptions, submitting multiple claims for the same service, billing for services never rendered, and billing for a more expensive service than patients actually received — the list goes on. Just how far can these schemes go? In one case, our special agents brought several pharmacies and related entities to justice after they fraudulently billed the DOL (and therefore USPS) and a health care program $126 million!
Financial Fraud: When it comes to financial fraud, even one person acting alone can do serious damage. For instance, our Financial Fraud division recently closed a case where a mail clerk processed 138 fraudulent money order transactions, pocketing more than $111,000 from the Postal Service. This division also investigates employees who embezzle or misappropriate Postal Service funds and property, such as stamps.
Contract Fraud: With the Postal Service spending billions of dollars each year on contract work, it’s no surprise fraudsters want a slice of the pie. Our Contract Fraud division investigates cases that lead not only to fines and settlements, but also jail time, like this case where our special agents brought a multi-agency fraud case to a close. Our Cyber Crimes Unit supports this and other investigative divisions.
Official Misconduct: Our agency also investigates complaints about official misconduct, both within the Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission. You can find details about these investigations in our Semiannual Reports to Congress, including our recent spring report.
As you can see, the scope and breadth of our investigative work are significant. Collectively, our investigations help ensure the integrity of postal processes, finances, and personnel. Which of these program areas are most important to you? Let us know in the comments.