Tax season is here and many Americans are probably wondering if they will owe more than what they might receive back. However, some Washington D.C. residents may be on edge after having their tax return checks stolen. The Feds say a former U.S. Postal Service employee is to blame.
The Justice Department says 44-year-old Hachikosela Muchimba was accused on March 14 of being behind the disappearance of millions worth of tax return checks. Authorities caught on to his scheme in January of 2023 after someone reported their $14,000 check was deposited but... not into their bank.
Federal prosecutors said the individual then used some context clues to put two-and-two together: the address and name on the check matched the information of their mail carrier, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
Authorities then discovered the bank where the funds were deposited had copies of “four additional U.S. Treasury checks that were fraudulently negotiated.” They totaled up to $57,000. However, over the next few months, federal authorities snuffed out another 98 checks Muchimba had stolen from the folks on his mail route and deposited — all while in his USPS uniform.
The Justice Department says Muchimba’s scheme ran from between December 2020 and March 2023, depositing the checks by removing the name of the true recipient and replacing it with his name. Surveillance footage from the bank caught him in the act which federal prosecutors say funded international trips, luxury hotel stays and purchases at gentlemen’s clubs. He secured $1.6 million from his ventures.
Muchimba was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of mail and bank fraud, theft of mail, bank fraud, engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity and unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization, per the DOJ.
The Feds say Muchimba also applied to become a citizen while providing false information to the immigration office. He was found guilty of all charges Friday by a federal jury.