Hachikosela Muchimba USPS postal worker in Washington D.C convicted of stealing $1.6M in checks during mail route over course of 3 years funding lavish lifestyle including international travel, stays at luxury hotels, and purchases at gentlemen’s clubs along with re-inventing his identity to that of an investment CEO.
A former United States Postal Service (USPS) employee is set to spend decades behind bars after he was convicted last week of stealing over $1.6 million in checks intended for individuals on his mail route.
Hachikosela Muchimba, 44, of Washington, D.C., fraudulently obtained and deposited close to 100 checks over a span of just under three years, according to a criminal complaint. Most of the checks were tax returns issued by the Treasury Department.
‘Muchimba used the proceeds of the stolen checks to fund a lavish lifestyle that included international travel, stays at luxury hotels, and purchases at gentlemen’s clubs,’ Justice Department prosecutors said in a statement on Friday.
USPS worker diabolical plan to steal checks and live lavish life
The release came one day after a jury found Muchimba guilty of conspiracy to commit theft of mail and bank fraud, theft of mail, bank fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
Authorities began investigating Muchimba in January 2023 after an individual called to report that their treasury check for over $14,000 had somehow been obtained and then deposited into someone else’s bank account, according to the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors in the case.
That individual then ‘recognized the name and the address on the U.S. Treasury check as the same name and address that [their] mail carrier had used on a holiday card,’ according to the complaint.
When investigators went to the bank to learn more, they were ‘provided copies of four additional U.S. Treasury checks that were fraudulently negotiated’ into the same account.
Those five checks totaled over $57,000, according to prosecutors. Unbeknownst to prosecutors at the time, it would be the tip of the iceberg.
Over the course of the next few months, investigators discovered approximately 98 misappropriated checks that had been deposited into accounts controlled by Muchimba.
Lavish lifestyle and new fake identity
Those checks were each deposited into one of Muchimba’s seven bank accounts and had an aggregate value of $1,697,909.52, according to the complaint. That includes one check for $415,173.53 that authorities learned of while searching Muchimba’s residence, where they discovered a receipt for the deposit.
Muchimba even deposited checks and withdrew stolen funds while still wearing his U.S.P.S. uniform, prosecutors note in the complaint, citing surveillance footage.
He managed to deposit checks by altering or falsely endorsing them, ‘removing the proper payee on the checks and replacing it with his own name,’ according to the complaint.
In one egregious example of fraudulent spending, the complaint listed a trip made to the Bulgari Resort Bali by Muchimba in July 2022, People Mag reported. Authorities learned about that trip thanks to a $14,532.94 debit card purchase Muchimba made during his tropical getaway, further incriminating him.
The cheapest villa at the resort costs $1,313,63 per night in July, not including taxes and fees.
So audacious was the scheme, not only was Muchimba funding a new dream life, the postal worker had also re-invented himself as an investment CEO, with a Linkldin profile describing him as the C.E.O at Double Blue Investments LLC.
Prosecutors ultimately charged Muchimba with 20 counts including 10 counts of theft of mail and seven counts of bank fraud.
On March 14, a jury found Muchimba guilty on all 20 counts with his sentencing is set for August.
Muchimba faces up to 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud and up to five years in prison for each count of mail fraud.
