A Delran man who worked for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) today admitted to stealing postal service funds, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Amar D. Patel, 36, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of embezzling, stealing, purloining, and knowingly converting to his own use USPS funds in excess of $1,000.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In July 2016, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General started investigating shortages in cash deposits reported by the Riverside, Delanco, and Delran post offices. Patel – who was a supervisor at those three offices – had access to deposit bags containing cash acquired during retail operations.
Agents installed covert surveillance cameras inside the Riverside post office. On Jan. 14th, one of the surveillance cameras captured images of Patel tearing open a sealed deposit bag, removing cash deposits, and placing the funds into his pocket. According to U.S. Postal Service financial records and bank deposit records, the Riverside office’s deposit was short $1,650 on Jan. 14, 2017.
As part of his plea, Patel admitted stealing a total of $15,700 in U.S. Postal Service funds on 12 separate occasions from Feb. 20, 2016, through Jan. 14, 2017.
The count to which Patel pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2018.