TRIAL BEGINS OF CENTRAL AFRICAN EX-PRESIDENT BOZIZE OVER WAR CRIMES. (PHOTO).
A former U.S. Postal Service employee appeared in federal court this week and admitted to stealing checks from hundreds of pieces of mail, as well as committing fraud related to a pandemic loan program.
Anthony Virdure II, 30, stole the checks while working at the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center on Market Street. Authorities began investigating after stolen checks were found in a rental vehicle returned in December 2023, with some bearing Virdure’s fingerprints. Additional checks were discovered in a vacated apartment in January 2024, again linked to the distribution center and bearing his fingerprints.
In late April 2024, law enforcement searched Virdure’s apartment and recovered nearly 300 stolen checks, many with his fingerprints. The total face value of the stolen checks exceeded $1.5 million, with checks linked directly to Virdure amounting to over $68,000.
Virdure also admitted to fraudulently obtaining $20,832 from the Pandemic Protection Program in 2021 for a tobacco store named Virdure Dynamics. His loan application included false details about the business’s income and listed a false address, which was later identified as his grandmother’s home.
He pleaded guilty to one count each of mail theft and wire fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for November 30. He faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 for wire fraud, and up to five years in prison with a $250,000 fine for mail theft.
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