Two former U.S. postal workers are accused of stealing more than $4 million in Treasury checks from a mail facility at JFK Airport.
Kevaughn Wellington, 31, and his accomplice, Ky-Mani Straker, stole more than 125 checks over a roughly two-year period, according to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.
The checks included Social Security benefits, COVID-19 stimulus payments and tax refunds, the feds allege.
Both men worked at the JFK mail facility, and Wellington’s job was to open and unpack sacks of mail, according to the feds.
Wellington, of Queens, helped himself to some of that mail, and he and Straker, of Orange, N.J., then sold the checks for a cut of the profit.
In a nine-page indictment unsealed Wednesday, the feds lay out several instances between 2021 and 2023 where Wellington sent Straker and others photos of the checks he had for sale.
“The former postal workers abused their positions of trust to allegedly pull one of the biggest thefts at John F. Kennedy International Airport,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “Criminals who cash in on checks stolen from the mail can expect to fill out change of address forms for the federal prison they will be calling home.”
Both men are charged with conspiring to steal government funds, theft of government funds and possession of stolen mail. Wellington is also charged with theft of mail by a postal service employee, and Straker with passing Treasury Checks bearing forged endorsements.
Both were ordered released on bond at their arraignments in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday — $75,000 for Wellington, and $50,000 for Straker. Their attorneys declined comment Thursday.
The feds also charged three more New York City suspects, Angel Ortiz, 27, Mark Dawson, 28, and Fuquan Bradley, 34 with depositing and falsely endorsing Treasury checks in a separate scheme.