By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
Suspected mail theft recently surfaced in Pacific Palisades when postal customers Karen and Morteza Khaleghi’s checks were reportedly dropped in a USPS collection box, stolen, altered and cashed.
The person who made off with the Khaleghis’ checks scored $30,000, and the couple was forced to close an account they had for over 30 years.
Karen told the Palisadian-Post her husband dropped the checks off on Saturday morning, June 6. He visited the U.S. Postal Service mailbox that stands at the Village Green on Antioch Street.
“As is his usual practice, [Morteza] made certain that the envelopes went [through] to the mailbox itself,” Karen said. “On Tuesday … in checking our bank accounts, he noted that there were problems with the checks. The made-out-to and amounts had been changed, and the checks had been cashed.”
Karen said they would previously utilize the collection boxes at the corner of Sunset and Amalfi Drive, or Sunset and Capri. After being warned by neighbors that mail theft had occurred at both boxes, they decided to use the one at the Village Green.
“[Morteza] figured that mail theft from such a busy and visible area would not occur,” she said.
U.S. Postal Inspector Alyssa Rodriguez subsequently told the Post U.S. Postal Inspectors actively investigate any reports of mail theft. Karen made her report over the phone.
Several Palisadians have recently reported issues with local collection boxes. Palisadian Betty Fennel warned neighbors about the box located at Radcliffe Avenue and Carthage Street.
“Please be careful,” she said. “My husband saw it firsthand … The inside of the drop-shoot was coated with something sticky. This is the second time we have posted [about] the issue. The first time several bill payments [were] stuck in the chute and my husband unstuck them and got them inside.”
Post Master Yvonne Smith explained in 2018 this may be a result of “mail fishing,” a criminal act referring to people who use tools, sometimes simply a piece of string, to “fish” mail out of collection boxes, according to a Post article.
Rodriguez offered a number of prevention tips for postal customers: She said outgoing mail should be handed to a letter carrier or mailed directly at the post office. To avoid mail theft, mail should be removed from a personal mailbox every day.
Suspicions of mail theft should be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 or by filing a report online at uspis.gov.
Mail theft is a federal offense punishable by U.S. Code Section 1708.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
