Former Postal Worker, 4 Others Orchestrate Sale Of Stolen Checks From Mail In Tri-State Area, Officials Say

MARLTON, NJ — A former United States Postal Service worker and four others were part of a fraud scheme to steal and sell checks that were sent in the mail across the tri-state area, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said.

Juawan Reed, 30, of Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, was employed by the United States Postal Service and stole checks from the mail when he worked at the Camden Carrier Annex.

He then sold or provided the stolen checks to Tyree Holmes, 34, of Philadelphia, and Dante Ford, who would market the goods on social media and resell them.

Reed also gave Holmes and others different stolen checks to negotiate fraudulently, authorities added.

On one occasion in December 2022, Reed took a United States Treasury check valued at $686,541.88 that was payable to a Pennsauken business and gave it to Holmes.

Christopher Hayman, 30, of Philadelphia, pretended to be the CEO of the business in order to open a business bank account in the company's name.

The funds were then deposited, and Hayman took out a large portion of them before the bank found the fraud and closed the account.

Reed also admitted that he created and used a stolen identity to make financial accounts and launder money.

He also confessed to withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars that he got from the fraud proceeds from what he reported on his tax returns.

Reed agreed that the bank fraud operation caused a loss of more than $2.4 million, but was intended to bring more than $20 million in damages.

Ford, Kharon Parson-Wright, 28, of Marlton, and others stole checks from the blue U.S. mail collection boxes.

Members of the conspiracy then created counterfeit versions or altered the stolen checks by raising the value and changing names of payees to someone connected to the operation.

Parson-Wright and Yasmene Johnson, 29, of Marlton, confessed that they negotiated and caused those checks to be negotiated before attempting to take the money before the bank was able to tell that the checks were from fraud.

This part of the operation involved banks across South Jersey and elsewhere being used for checks written for tens of thousands of dollars.

Parson-Wright also introduced Johnson to a bank employee who made fake debit cards in the name of victims who had accounts at the bank.

They used one of these cards to buy items and take money out of ATMs in New Jersey. The duo admitted that they contributed to more than $400,000 in losses and had intended to have that number reach more than $1,500,000.

The charges and/or sentences for those involved are as follows:

Reed, Holmes, and Hayman face a maximum of 30 years in jail and a fine of up to $1,000,000 (or twice the gross loss to the victim or gain to the defendant, whichever is more) for the count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

The count of aggravated identity theft for Reed carries a statutory mandatory sentence of two years in jail, which has to run consecutively to any other prison time.

The count of theft of public money carries a maximum of 10 years in jail, while the count of theft of U.S. mail carries a maximum of five years.

The count of money laundering is subject to a maximum jail sentence of 20 years, while the count of filing a false income tax return could bring up to three years behind bars.

MORE FROM PATCH: NJ Manufacturing Business Closing South Jersey Location

HAVE A STORY IDEA OR NEWS TO SHARE? Contact Editor Eddie Callahan at edward.callahan@patch.com to connect with Patch in your area.