Michael Edwards, 31, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for masterminding a check fraud scheme that targeted the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl issued the sentence in the Southern District of New York.
The scheme operated from January 2022 through July 2024 and involved the theft of more than 2,600 checks from postal collection boxes located in affluent Manhattan neighborhoods. Edwards and associates used postal keys to access the collection boxes. The intended losses exceeded $55 million, with more than $18 million actually deposited into bank accounts.
Once stolen, Edwards and his co-conspirators altered the names of payees on the checks and in some cases modified the dollar amounts. They then recruited individuals to provide bank account information and coordinated deposits of the fraudulently altered checks across Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Edwards also posted fraudulent checks for sale on Telegram.
According to U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald, Edwards continued operating his illegal business on Telegram even after his arrest and deleted posts to obstruct justice.
In addition to the eight-year prison sentence, Edwards received three years of supervised release. He was ordered to forfeit $18,840,084.45 and pay restitution.
