Pennsylvania men accused in scheme that swiped $80M in U.S. Treasury checks

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday charges against four men from the Philadelphia area: Tauheed Tucker, 23, and Saahir Irby, 27, both of Philadelphia; Cory Scott, 25, of Ardmore; and Alexander Telewoda, 25, of Clifton Heights.

The men are facing felony conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and mail theft charges.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Irby and Tucker were working as mail processing clerks for the U.S. Postal Service between June 2023 and Sept. 2024. They are accused of intercepting and swiping thousands of envelopes containing U.S. Treasury checks from mail sorting machines at the USPS Philadelphia processing center.

The men then allegedly sold them to Scott and Telewoda, who then resold the checks on Telegram. They were mailed to buyers across the country who attempted to cash them.

In total, $80 million in checks were allegedly stolen, $11 million of which were cashed.

If convicted, Irby faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and the remaining men face up to 20 years.