A former mail investigator for the U.S. Postal Service, Scott Kelly, is facing serious charges for allegedly stealing over $330,000 from packages intended for victims of fraud. According to the Justice Department, much of this money went towards house renovations, vacations, and even escorts.
At 51 years old and based in Massachusetts, Kelly has been indicted on 45 counts, which include wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering, among others. These serious allegations stem from his time leading fraud units within the Postal Service. From 2015 until June 2022, he worked with the Postal Scamming Unit, followed by a role in the Postal Theft Unit until August 2023.
Kelly is accused of pilfering cash from mail and then laundering it. He reportedly spent around $15,400 on sexual services, $30,188 on a new patio and lighting for his swimming pool, and even took a Caribbean cruise costing $4,300.
Between 2019 and 2023, he allegedly misled other postal workers by sending deceptive emails instructing them to intercept packages he falsely claimed were linked to Jamaican scam victims. These scams often tricked vulnerable individuals into believing they had won money but needed to send cash to claim their prizes.
Regulations allowed postal workers to intercept suspicious packages but required them to count the cash with a colleague and send a check back to the sender, which Kelly apparently circumvented. The DOJ asserts he stole from around 1,950 packages.
Notably, seven of his victims have been identified, averaging 75 years old, with the oldest at 82. These individuals reportedly sent between $1,400 and $19,100 to scammers.
In one instance, a victim met Kelly, expressing frustration over lost mail, stating, “Their loss was their own mistake because they mailed cash.” Unfortunately, none of these victims ever saw their packages or the money again.
In addition to the package thefts, Kelly reportedly used another postal inspector’s key to steal $7,000 from an evidence locker, further complicating his case.
Allegedly, he has laundered nearly $340,000, utilizing multiple bank accounts to obscure his transactions. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, money laundering, and mail fraud, along with additional time for related offenses.
