Talk about discount postage stamps on Ebay
1630Boston
Posts: 14,111 ✭✭✭✭✭
People have talked here about buying discounted stamps.
Check this out from my Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
PS On the news today his sentence will be probation!
Holden man, a former Worcester postal worker, stole up to $82,000 in stamps
WORCESTER – A former city postal worker admitted in federal court Thursday to stealing as much as $82,000 in stamps and selling some of them online.
David Fors, 58, of Holden, pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including three counts of mail fraud, after authorities allege he stole thousands of stamps and sold them at a discounted rate on eBay.
The thefts began in early 2012, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Richardson said, and were detected after inspectors caught them on video and purchased stamps from Mr. Fors online.
Mr. Richardson said cameras caught Mr. Fors, a mail processing clerk, pilfering packages of stamps sent from the federal government to Worcester for retail sale.
Undercover postal inspectors also bought stamps from Mr. Fors’ eBay account, “mrfenway,” at a discounted rate, Mr. Richardson said.
Authorities raided Mr. Fors’ Holden home in September 2012, Mr. Richardson said. According to court documents, they seized $14,578.20 worth of stamps as well as $4,616 in cash. Authorities allege that Mr. Fors made an additional $77,829 as a result of his crime.
A plea agreement between Mr. Fors and the government requires him to pay $82,445 restitution. In the agreement, prosecutors agree to recommend he receive two years of probation, including “a period” of home confinement, as well as fines subject to the judge’s discretion.
Judge Timothy S. Hillman will not be bound by the plea agreement. In accepting Mr. Fors’ guilty plea Thursday, he noted he could sentence him to up to 100 years in prison and levy fines of nearly $2 million on three counts of mail fraud, three counts of theft of government property and one count of possession of government property with intent to convert.
“How come it took so long to run this down?” Judge Hillman asked the prosecutor at one point during the hearing. Mr. Richardson said he did not know specifically but believed postal inspectors wanted to ensure they had enough evidence to procure the search warrant.
After Judge Hillman asked whether the government audits its stamps, Mr. Richardson said the cameras were installed after the post office noticed it was missing stamps.
Mr. Richardson did not say which post office in Worcester employed Mr. Fors, who is due to be sentenced in November.
And here is the BEST PART
“He greatly enjoyed his career at the postal service, and is looking forward to putting this chapter of his life behind him,” Mr. Fors’ attorney, Brian E. Murphy, said outside the courtroom.
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Comments
Weird math. He stole UP TO $82,000 in cash.
They found $14,578 worth of stamps and $4600 in cash but he somehow might have made $77k more?!?!??!
I am surprised he is not still employed with the USPS.
Hardly. Theft is one thing that will get you fired immediately.
Good to know. I thought it was nearly impossible.
Think so? Well, I know of one government employee who worked for an important politician that went into the National Archives and removed a bunch of documents. No big deal when it was discovered. Although the papers were stuffed into his underwear and socks...Oh, it was just an oversight on his part, no harm done.
If you think there is a level playing field in this country...
Wow, he really got licked!
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Sounds a lot like the Sandy Burglar caper.
Hey - it happens to me all the time. One minute I am reading important documents and the next minute they end up in my skivvies.
Oh well, at least he destroyed them so they would not fall into the wrong hands. They were highly classified, after all.
We're talking about the Postal Service....misappropriation of postal funds and theft gets you fired faster than you can lick a stamp!
During my career I witnessed more people hauled out that I can count on my hands.
Ron was a Clerk. I'm sure he saw his share of stuff too.
Pete
Sure did, Pete.
Geez, how sad !!!
"So unfair." Is there a presidential pardon coming up?
Thieves and liars are two of my 'most hated' humanoids....
Cheers, RickO
i wonder if his wife/girlfriend might be in on it where shes got some account somewhere or even shoe box. just saying
Can we anticipate USPS will try to claw back money from the ebay buyers? 3 AM raids on the horizon?
After all the buyers must have known the deals were too good to be true and are thus complicit in the crime.
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The thefts began in 2012. He likely already spent much of the illicit money.
Then it should say in excess of 82,000.
Haha, right. The writer presumably just looked at the restitution amount. But it is interesting that the restitution amount is the cash plus the amount they claim he already stole. The article indicates that they seized the stamps and the cash, but then he seemingly owes restitution on the seized cash still.
That's why the math is so odd. I would presume he was selling the stamps at a discount.
Likely the rest of the money is now in the bank account of a Massachusetts casino.
Reading this post, the name 'mrfenway' sounded familiar, so I went back into my records... Purchased quite a few prestamped envelopes from this seller on eBay from 2015-2016. Prices were just under face value, but were included on already stamped on the envelopes. Absolutely nothing that would/should have raised red flags with a buyer.
What's confusing with this article is it states that there was a raid in 2012?
Justin Meunier
Boardwalk Numismatics