SARASOTA, Fla. — A worker with the U.S. Post Office was arrested for allegedly stealing checks from the mail in Sarasota, Florida, police said.
In a news release, the Sarasota Police Department said that Anabel Ossombi, 27, of Bradenton, was arrested on Wednesday and is facing multiple charges, including criminal use of personal identification (with over 30 victims), a scheme to defraud, and money laundering.
Ossombi has been employed by the U.S. Postal Service as a mail sorter since May 2022, police say. Ossombi worked at three USPS locations in Sarasota, according to WFLA.
Police along with the USPS Office of Inspector General began investigating reports of alleged fraud after they received complaints from two companies who claimed that their customers never received their checks, according to WFLA.
Investigators got a subpoena and began to look at bank records. It was learned that about 75 different checks equaling about $70,109.28 had been deposited fraudulently, police said.
The alleged fraud had about 60 complaints from victims, according to WFLA.
Detectives believe that the fraud happened from May 2022 through April 2023, police said. Representatives from 13 of the affected companies reportedly told detectives that they sent the checks through USPS. Those representatives said that they had confirmed that the checks had been dropped off at the post office or picked up by a mail carrier, according to WFLA.
Ossombi was arrested at one of the post offices where she worked, police said.
