May 06, 2026
TAREQ ISMAIL/Unsplash
Two former USPS workers and two other defendants pled guilty Tuesday in a scheme to steal U.S. Treasury checks from a mail distribution center in Southwest Philly and resell them online.
Four people pled guilty Tuesday in a scheme to steal $84 million worth of government checks from a postal distribution center and resell them online.
Philadelphia's Saahir Irby, 28, and Tauheed Tucker, 24; Cory Scott, 26, of Ardmore; and Alexander Telewoda, 26, of Clifton Heights, entered their pleas before a judge in the U.S. Eastern District Court. All faced charges of conspiracy to steal government funds, theft and mail theft.
From June 2023 to September 2024, Irby and Tucker obtained envelopes with U.S. Treasury checks while working at the U.S. Postal Service processing and distribution center at 7500 Lindbergh Blvd. in Southwest Philly. They would then sell the envelopes with the checks to Scott and Telewoda, who would resell them on Telegram and mail the checks to buyers around the United States, officials said.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Fiscal Service, which has a facility in Philadelphia, prints and mails out thousands of checks directly to residents and businesses in the area. However, those that can't be delivered to the recipient or are marked "Return to Sender" are sent back via USPS and processed through its distribution center.
Irby worked as a processing clerk at the center beginning in August 2021. He had access to the machines that sorted envelopes addressed to the bureau's facility and typically worked overnight shifts, according to court documents.
In 2023, Irby began identifying sorting machines which processed a large number of the returned treasury checks. Prosecutors said that beginning in June, Irby would place envelopes in a pocket or backpack and take them to his car. In early August of that year, Telegram messages showed Irby and Scott conspired to get Tucker, Irby's cousin who also worked at the center, in the scheme.
In August 2024, Irby sold checks to someone in the parking lot of Rivers Casino Philadelphia, and law enforcement officials saw the buyer opening the envelopes with gloves. Officers then seized 112 envelopes containing checks, which were valued at over $248,000. Irby and Tucker were fired from their jobs the following month, and Irby was arrested on Sept. 11.
In total, the stolen checks had a face value of $84.5 million and included several checks worth over $1 million. Customers who bought the stolen checks successfully cashed in $11 million worth of stolen funds at banks and other financial institutions.
Irby, Tucker and Telewoda will be sentenced in August, and Scott will be sentenced in November. Irby faces up to 25 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The remaining defendants face up to 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.
Irby was also charged in a separate mail theft case for another batch of U.S. Treasury checks allegedly stolen and resold in August 2024.
