A former U.S. postal inspector, who was part of the fraud division, is facing serious allegations after being accused of stealing over $330,000 from packages belonging to victims. According to the Justice Department, he reportedly used the stolen money for personal expenses like home renovations, vacations, and escorts.
Scott Kelly, 51, hailing from Massachusetts, has been charged with 45 counts, including wire fraud, mail fraud, theft by a postal officer, theft from the government, money laundering, and even filing a false tax return.
Some of the more shocking claims include Kelly allegedly taking cash from packages, which he then used to pay $15,400 for sexual services. As for renovations, expenses ranged from $30,188 for a patio and new pool lighting to $4,300 spent on granite countertops for an outdoor bar and another $4,300 for a Caribbean cruise.
From 2015 until June 2022, Kelly was a leader in the Postal Inspection Service, a law enforcement division of the Postal Service. He continued his role as a team leader for the Postal Theft Unit until August 2023.
Between 2019 and 2023, Kelly is alleged to have sent misleading emails to postal employees, instructing them to intercept packages supposedly linked to scams that targeted Americans. These scams involved victims being tricked into sending money under the pretense of winning lottery prizes. Kelly manipulated postal workers into routing these packages to him.
While postal employees could flag packages as potentially related to fraud, they weren’t permitted to open them without the sender’s consent. Kelly, however, is thought to have intercepted about 1,950 packages containing cash from seven identified victims, most of whom were seniors averaging 75 years old, with the oldest being 82. Each victim had mailed amounts ranging between $1,400 and $19,100.
There’s even an account of Kelly meeting one victim and, upon not finding a package, claiming it was the victim’s fault for mailing cash. Unfortunately, none of the victims recovered their money or packages.
Additionally, Kelly misused the keys of another postal inspector, reportedly stealing $7,000 from an evidence locker while trying to blame a colleague for the theft.
He is accused of laundering nearly $340,000 by purchasing postal services under aliases and spreading bank deposits across multiple accounts to obscure the funds’ origins.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud and money laundering count, along with several other counts of theft and filing false tax returns, with maximum sentences varying from five to ten years for those crimes.
