Iselin Man Part Of U.S. Mail Credit Card Theft Scheme: Prosecutor

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A Woodbridge man was taken into federal custody this week and accused of scheming with U.S. Postal Service employees to commit mail theft, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, said acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig.

Yaseen Salih, 24, of Iselin, and Adeeb Salih, 29, of East Orange, were both charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail theft and possession of stolen mail and aggravated identity theft.

The Iselin man, Yaseen Salih, was arrested Thursday and is currently detained in jail.

U.S. prosecutors allege that:

U.S. Postal Service employees Khadijah Banks Oneal, who worked at the Kearny mail processing facility, and Ashley Taylor, who worked at a Manhattan mail processing facility, stole envelopes from the mail they were handling that contained credit cards, checks and U.S. Treasury checks.

From Dec. 12, 2020 to July 31, 2021, Taylor then sold the stolen mail to the Woodbridge man, Yaseen Salih.

Oneal sold the stolen mail to three other men, Jahad Salter, Dashaun Brown and Hakir Brown. She was arrested July 28.

Prosecutors say Yaseen Salih and Adeeb Salih, Brown, Salter and Oneal fraudulently posed as the account holders of the stolen credit cards. They called the banks that issued them and used personal identifying information belonging to the account holder, to obtain or change information about the stolen credit cards.

They then used the stolen credit cards to, among other things, make purchases at retail stores in New Jersey and elsewhere, including New York and online, resulting in attempted losses of more than $300,000.

Adeeb Salih also deposited the stolen checks into his own bank accounts, said federal prosecutors. All the others have been taken into federal custody, but Salih remains at large and is considered a fugitive from justice.

The following were charged in late July and early August of this year with this scheme:

• Hakir Brown, 27, of Newark was arrested Thursday and charged with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail theft and to possess stolen mail and aggravated identity theft.
• Banks Oneal, 30, of Newark, was charged July 28 with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and mail theft. She was arrested the same day, and on July 29 appeared before Judge Espinosa, and was released on a $30,000 bond. At the time of her arrest, Banks Oneal was employed by the U.S. Postal Service at a mail processing facility in Kearny.
• Salter, 25, of Newark, was charged on July 29 with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and conspiracy to commit mail theft. He was arrested Aug. 9.
• Dashaun Brown, 30, of Newark was charged July 29 with access device fraud and mail theft. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he remains at large.
• Taylor, 27, of Bronx, New York, was charged Aug. 2 with conspiracy to commit mail theft and, as a federal employee, accepting bribes. She appeared in federal court on Aug. 3 and was released on a $30,000 bond. At the time of her arrest, Taylor was employed by the USPS at a post office in Manhattan.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service under the direction of Acting Inspector of Charge Rodney M. Hopkins, Newark Division; and special agents of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, with the investigation leading to the charges. She also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, District of New Jersey, under the direction of Marshal Juan Mattos Jr.; the U.S. Secret Service, New York Field Office.

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