United States Postal employee Jakia McMorris, 32, was arrested on July 24, 2023 accused of stealing checks in the mail and money laundering in Charlotte, NC. Douglas Gumbs, 38, was also arrested, accused of stealing mail in Charlotte.
Jakia is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
According to allegations in the indictment, from at least May 2021, Jakia was an employee of the U.S. Postal Service working as a city carrier at the North Tryon Station in Charlotte.
The indictment alleges that on or around September 13, 2021, Jakia reported that while she was delivering mail, she lost a USPS universal key that could open many U.S. mailboxes.
After that day, Jakia allegedly stopped reporting for work at the USPS. According to allegations in the indictment, beginning in September 2021, Jakia and her co-conspirators executed a scheme to commit bank fraud by stealing more than $40,000 in checks, including from the U.S. mail.
$3 million was made after checks were stolen in the mail via a USPS mail key
The indictment alleges that the co-conspirators used stolen universal USPS keys to open multi-unit outdoor mailboxes in Charlotte and steal mail.
The stolen mail included business checks. As part of the scheme, the indictment alleges that the co-conspirators deposited the stolen checks into bank accounts they controlled, including in bank accounts that were in Jakia’s name.
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The co-conspirators then quickly withdrew the cash from the accounts before the banks detected the fraud.
Jakia allegedly received a portion of the funds as payment for using her bank accounts to perpetuate the scheme.
As part of the conspiracy, the indictment also alleges that the co-conspirators attempted to disguise the payments made to the defendant by using the fraudulent proceeds in Jakia’s bank account to purchase money orders, which Jakia then deposited back into her bank accounts, prosecutors say.
In a separate case, federal charges were filed against Douglas Gumbs. The charges are mail theft and other related charges.
According to allegations in the indictment, from 2022 to April 2023, Douglas engaged in a mail theft and bank fraud scheme by stealing large quantities of U.S. mail from residential and business mailboxes in Charlotte.
The alleged stolen mail included business and individual checks, credit cards, tax forms, and other financial information. In 2022, Douglas allegedly was found with more than 850 individual pieces of stolen mail.
Douglas is accused of depositing the stolen checks into bank accounts he controlled and withdrew the funds before the financial institutions learned that the deposited checks were stolen.
The indictment further alleges that Douglas engaged in identity theft by creating false identification documents in the names of individuals whose mail Douglas had stolen.
Douglas then allegedly used the victims’ stolen identities in furtherance of the fraud, including to access the victims’ bank accounts and to open new bank accounts in some of the identity theft victims’ names.
Douglas is currently in federal custody. He is charged with receipt and possession of stolen mail, theft of mail left for collection, destruction of letter boxes, and bank fraud.
