Concerned about the possibility of thieves stealing mail from your mailbox?
In the case of some West Palm Beach residents, it was their postman they should have been nervous about.
Earlier this month, a West Palm Beach postal worker was convicted in federal court of seven charges connected to an unemployment fraud scheme he helped execute.
Yvenel Clotaire, a Postal Service letter carrier, was part of a scheme to obtain fraudulent unemployment benefits from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
He provided the addresses of 50 to 60 postal customers to his co-conspirators who then used the information, along with other stolen identity info, to file fake unemployment claims.
According to this FedSmith.com story, “When Florida Visa debit cards were mailed to the addresses on Clotaire’s Postal route, he intercepted them and passed them to at least one other co-conspirator.”
That co-conspirator then used the cards to make ATM withdrawals.
“As a result of the fraudulent scheme, the State of Florida sustained approximately $90,000 in financial losses,” according to a press release issued by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The charges Clotaire was convicted of include access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for May 17.
The Bradenton Herald covered the story here.
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