33 in USPS face charges of mail theft, embezzling, credit card fraud
Dozens of U.S. Postal Service employees throughout the Southland were charged this past week with an array of federal crimes, including stealing mail, embezzling from the agency and failing to deliver mail, prosecutors announced Friday. The defendants are charged across 28 cases, about half of which allege mail theft and/or possession of stolen mail by USPS employees and contractors. Other cases charge postal employees with conspiracy, embezzlement, bank fraud and false statements.
Among the cases is one in which the former local area president of the Mail Handlers Union was charged with conspiracy and possession of stolen mail. Jarol Garcia allegedly stole mobile phones from parcels going through the center and traded the phones after offering them for exchange on a website, according to an indictment, which also alleges that Garcia was found in possession of at least 166 mobile phones stolen from the mail.
Another case charges a mail carrier with conspiracy to commit credit card fraud and theft of mail. The indictment alleges that Norman A. Muschamp was part of a conspiracy to use information belonging to identity theft victims to order pre-paid PayPal debit cards that were sent to primarily nonexistent addresses on his mail route. Muschamp allegedly took part in the scheme by obtaining the PayPal debit cards from the mail and delivering them to co-conspirators in exchange for cash. Investigators who are continuing to investigate the overall scheme believe it caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
Additionally, a postal carrier was charged with delaying the mail by effectively hoarding the mail she was entrusted to deliver on her route. Sherry Naomi Watanabe was found to have hoarded more than 48,000 pieces of mail at her home which was supposed to have been delivered to customers on her route, according to her plea agreement.
“The overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees are honest and dedicated public servants who are worthy of our trust,” said Brian Washington USPS Office of Inspector General special agent in charge. “However, when employees engage in criminal activity, our agency will aggressively investigate these matters to protect the overall integrity of the Postal Service.” [Source: My News Los Angeles]
Alleged shoplifter in critical condition after falling into quarry
An alleged shoplifter suffered “extensive” internal injuries and broken bones Friday after apparently falling into the area of Tilcon Riverdale Quarry while fleeing from authorities. Officers were dispatched on Friday evening to a Walmart after a shoplifter fled the store. Officers at the scene reported that the suspect was seen running to the back parking lot of the store and jumping a fence, behind which was a severe drop-off of between 20 to 100 feet, depending on the area. Behind the drop-off is the rocky edge of the large Tilcon Riverdale Quarry.
Patrolmen checked the quarry and climbed down into a wooded area below the fence and walked several hundred feet to investigate. During the search, they found the suspect, John Sanchez unconscious and lying on his back at the base of a high retaining wall below the fence.
Noting the location and severity of his injuries, police contacted paramedics for assistance. With the use of Riverdale Fire Department’s ladder truck and other emergency equipment brought to the scene, Sanchez was extracted from the area and taken to a landing zone, from where he was loaded onto a State Police Northstar helicopter and flown to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
During the investigation, Sanchez was alleged to have attempted to take a cart full of merchandise valued at $462.58 from the store, and running from the scene when confronted by Walmart employees. Sanchez was charged with fourth-degree shoplifting. He will be processed and given a court date when he is released from hospital care. [Source: USA Today’s Daily Record]
Under fire: Chipotle, Papa John, McDonald’s over ‘pervasive’ wage theft and discrimination
Federal regulators and states are finding fast food companies like Chipotle, McDonald’s and Papa John culpable of wage theft, worker intimidation and discrimination. A practice they say is “pervasive” in the industry. Workers are fighting back, however, and finding support in the court and regulatory bodies.
In a case stemming from the use of social media to criticize of the burrito chain, Chipotle, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found in favor of the employee and argued the company’s workplace policies were illegal. Tweets by Chipotle employee James Kennedy criticized the company for paying workers $8.50 an hour while giving away free food, implying that this was an exploitative arrangement. He later took the tweet down when a supervisor informed him that the company’s social media policy prohibited employees from making “disparaging, false” statements about it online. Several weeks later, he was fired for organizing a petition protesting workers not getting their required breaks. The NLRB reviewed the case and agreed that Kennedy had been treated unfairly, with his firing connected to the petition as well as his earlier statements about wages on social media. The NLRB ordered Chipotle to offer to rehire Kennedy and pay him for lost wages.
In August Chipotle agreed to pay $550,000 in compensation and damages for discrimination against an employee for being pregnant. When worker Doris Garcia Hernandez informed her manager she was pregnant, she claims the manager began restricting her water and bathroom breaks. Hernandez alleges that her boss required her to “announce” to other staff members when she needed to use the restroom and he would then “approve her bathroom breaks so that he could cover her work position for her.” The manager also refused her requests to leave work and attend her prenatal doctor’s appointment. Hernandez chose to leave anyway and was publicly fired in front of other employees and customers the following day. The court found Chipotle had violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act which forbids any discrimination based on pregnancy.
Earlier in August, a California labor lawsuit had workers at five McDonald’s restaurants alleging the franchise owner violated wages and hours laws, failed to pay overtime and failed to pay minimum wage. The franchisee has already settled its portion of the lawsuit for approximately $700,000 but McDonald’s has argued that it is not responsible for how franchisees operate their business or manage working conditions. However, the US District Court for Northern California allowed the motion to continue as a class action lawsuit finding employees reasonably believed McDonald’s was their employer. There are potential 400-500 employees that will be part of the class-action.
Other fast food operators have been found guilty of wage theft. After a year-long fight, New York’s attorney general has settled with Papa John pizza franchises when they agreed to pay $500,000 in back wages and damages to more than 200 employees. Over the past two years, the Attorney General’s office investigated and found violations at eight separate Papa John’s franchises, which operated a total of 30 restaurants. The violations were all wage theft violations. In a 2015 settlement over wage violations at 11 franchise locations, the judgement totaled almost $3 million. In a separate case, the owner of nine franchises in the Bronx was sentenced to pay $230,000 in restitution to workers, and the owner was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail. [Source: RT Question More]
Woman drives through store after refused gift card purchases
Employees a Safeway store were busy sweeping up broken glass, repairing and restocking damaged shelves and mopping up tire tracks after a woman allegedly drove her Chevrolet Tahoe through the store.
Noella Fay had been at the store and tried to buy $2,200 worth of gift cards, according to Springfield police. Safeway sells gift cards that can be used at a variety of retailers, including Starbucks, Nordstrom and iTunes. But when Fay’s check bounced, she was refused the sale, which prompted her to become angry and leave the store, police said.
Fay allegedly returned later and parked her sport utility vehicle in front of the store’s west doors, blocking the entrance. She was yelling about wanting her gift cards, police said. A Safeway employee told Fay she needed to move her vehicle before they could discuss the gift card issue any further. It was then Fay drove her sport utility vehicle through the west side of the store.
Fay drove the Tahoe down an aisle almost to the back of the store, police said. She then allegedly reversed the SUV back to the front of the aisle, turned the car toward the deli and drove between the aisle ends and the checkstands. She then drove the vehicle out the east doors and into the parking lot.
Fay was arrested at her home in Glenwood on six counts of reckless endangering, hit and run, reckless driving and first-degree criminal mischief. [Source: Register Guard]
73-year-old Man ran retail crime operation out of social club
Rhode Island State Police have arrested a man they say oversaw an organized retail crime operation out of his home and a Federal Hill social club. After a month-long investigation, 73-year-old Richard Tiberi was charged with receiving stolen goods, soliciting another to commit a crime and conspiracy.
The charges allege that the defendant oversaw an illegal retail crime operation being conducted out of his residence as well as the Decatur Social Club. The investigation included surveillance of Richard Tiberi conducted over the past month where he met with co-conspirators for the purpose of purchasing stolen items. The investigation resulted in the issuance of search warrants for Tiberi’s vehicle, residence and person.
When the search warrants were executed police seized a quantity of stolen items with a retail value of $5,553.25 along with a computer, two telephones, a vehicle and ledgers. Richard Tiberi was taken into custody and transported to State Police Headquarters. The search warrant on Tiberi’s vehicle resulted in the seizure of additional stolen items.
Tiberi’s criminal history includes fifteen (15) arrests dating back to 1962 with criminal charges including Bookmaking, Conspiracy, Keeping of Gambling Places or Devices, Possession of Lottery Slips, Usury and Conspiracy to Commit Usury. [Source: Rhode Island State Police]
LP Worldwide: Mother-of-six made millions shoplifting over 45 years
A former shoplifter who claims she made almost £2million during her 44-year ‘career’ as a thief says she has given up looking for a job that would pay enough to match the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed. Kim Farry, 55, from Fulham, London, dubbed the ‘millionaire shoplifter’ said she made a ‘business’ out of her ill-begotten gains – which has seen her jailed seven times. Her life of crime allowed her to enjoy designer clothes, plastic surgery and exotic holidays. Now she has changed her ways she says she has no choice but to claim £1,300 a month in benefits, including housing allowance as she can’t find suitable work.
I don’t want to work in a shop, it’s boring. There is more to me than standing at a till. It’s not enough money for me,’ she said. ‘I only want to earn big money, I am not earning stupid money because of what I used to earn. You need a £1,000 a week to be comfortable.’
The mother of six said it has been hard to give up shoplifting, which she refers to as ‘work’ and ‘going shopping’. ‘When I wake up in the morning I think I am going to work. Up until the shops shut I can’t relax,’ she said. ‘My brain is wired to go out shopping every day and I can’t. I miss making all the money and having all the stuff, it was a business as well.’
After she married in her 20s and started a family of her own, Ms Farry even trained up her three eldest children to help her once they turned 12. She says she was stealing items worth as much as £7,000 a month, taking home nearly £50,000 a year after paying her accomplices. But although Ms Farry said she turned to crime to support her family, it also caused the breakdown of her marriage and when she was sentenced to one of her jail terms her three eldest children were sent to live with her father. [Source: The Daily Mail]
Gunman who says he was hiding from cartel falls through ceiling of smoothie shop
A 37-year-old man barged into a Fort Worth smoothie shop Saturday night and hid in the ceiling after telling the store manager that a cartel was after him. Police arrested John Case more than two hours later when he fell through the ceiling, said Patrick Day, a manager of the Smoothie King.
Day and a co-worker were wrapping up their shifts Saturday night when a truck came to a screeching halt outside the store about five minutes before closing time. A man burst in and locked the door, telling the shop staff to call police because a cartel was chasing him. Case, who looked mentally unstable, tried unsuccessfully to get into the ceiling from the bathroom and then went to the back office and asked for a ladder. The store manager gave him access to one. “I was just trying to keep him happy,” Day said. “I didn’t want him to get more violent.”
Case became more agitated when police arrived. “He pulled out a gun on me and my co-worker and basically was just scared that someone was going to take his life,” the store manager said.
After Case climbed into the ceiling, Day and his colleague fled the store and met two police officers. Several police units arrived at the store, including a SWAT team and a K9 team, according to the store manager. The owner of the Smoothie King said police discussed sending the man for a mental evaluation. [Source: Dallas Morning News]
The post Breaking News in the Industry: August 29, 2016 appeared first on LPM.