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Kyle Williams, 35, was working for the U.S. Postal Service when he swiped the cards from July 2019 to August 2020 and shared them with his fellow Vauxhall defendants, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Jarid Brooks, 27, Justin Brooks, 21, Kyjuan Hutchins, 21, and Williams activated the stolen credit cards and then used them to buy gift cards and electronics, among other items, Carpenito said.
Victims were socked with $80,000 in “intended and actual” losses from bogus purchases, he said.
“The defendants also schemed to fraudulently use over $11,000 of funds pre-loaded onto Economic Impact Payment (EIP) cards issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury and sent in the U.S. mail pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that were stolen from the mail,” Carpenito said.
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All four are charged with conspiring to defraud the postal service and the U.S. treasury.
Carpenito credited postal service inspectors, as well as special agents with the U.S. Postal Inspection Sservice’s Office of Inspector General and the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) with the investigation leading to the arrests.
He also thanked the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and police from Caldwell, Fairfield, Boonton and Millburn.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine K. Lou of Carpenito’s Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
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