D.A. BROWN: POSTAL LETTER CARRIER CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF STOLEN CHECKS AND SCHEME TO DEFRAUD; ALLEGEDLY WROTE $20,000 IN BAD CHECKS

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the arrest of a Springfield Gardens postal letter carrier who delivered mail in Bayside on charges of possessing stolen checks and recruiting acquaintances to open bank accounts into which he could deposit the stolen checks on which he allegedly inserted amounts and signatures.

District Attorney Brown said, "These checks were allegedly stolen from individuals who did not even know they were missing until they were returned bearing forged writing and signatures. This is just the sort of crime which raises the costs of banking and credit card services to consumers."

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Richard Austin, also known as Alan Austin, 30, of 133-04 218th Street, Springfield Gardens. He is charged with 13 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property and Scheme to Defraud. He faces a maximum term of 7 years in prison if convicted.

According to the District Attorney, the defendant, who worked as a letter carrier for almost 10 years, asked six people between March 31, 1998 and February 18, 2000 to open bank accounts at Columbia Federal Savings Bank and deposit into the accounts checks which he gave to them. He allegedly offered a fee for their opening the accounts and providing him with the checks and ATM cards which were given out when the accounts were opened. The defendant allegedly provided each person with one or two checks in amounts between approximately $1,000 and $4,000 and after the checks were deposited went to ATM machines and withdrew the funds. The stolen checks were returned by the banks which originally issued them and Columbia Federal Savings Bank sustained losses of approximately $20,000 over twenty-one months.

The investigation was conducted by United States Postal Inspector Richard Cinnamo of the United States Postal Inspection Service under the supervision of Leonard Kennedy, Team Leader of the Queens Postal Inspection Service Office.. Detective Michael Failla of the 105th Precinct made the arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Rosemary Buccheri of the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Brian J. Mich and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco, is in charge of the case.

It is to be noted that a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.