Five people from Prince George’s County, Maryland, including a postal worker, are accused of stealing checks from the mail valued at more than $5 million.
A grand jury in December indicted Tianna Cosby, 23; Marche Sisco, 26; Tommi Cosby 21; Biniah Carter, 24; and Zion Oluwademilade Adeduwon, 22, with conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud.
Tianna Cosby and Carter were arrested last Friday and were scheduled to appear in court in Greenbelt on Monday. Law enforcement were still looking for Sisco, Tommi Cosby and Adeduwon.
According to the indictment, the five were involved in the theft of more than 600 checks from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes and from a mail distribution center in Capitol Heights, where Sisco worked as a mail handler assistant.
Prosecutors said the fraud took place starting March 2021 through August 2021 in Maryland and elsewhere.
After stealing the checks, Tianna Cosby, Tommi Cosby, Carter and Adeduwon recruited “account mules” — individuals whose bank accounts were used to deposit the stolen checks and proceeds from the checks, court documents said. They are also accused of getting and sharing banking and identification information of the account mules and falsifying information on the stolen checks to be paid to the accounts of the account mules.
The four and Sisco also had access to information of at least five identity theft victims.
Banks used by the group included PNC Bank and Navy Federal Credit Union in Clinton, as well as a Wells Fargo in Largo and BB&T in Upper Marlboro, where Tianna Cosby deposited an altered check in the amount of almost $39,000, court documents said.
Each person faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted.
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