A Delco ‘check washing’ scheme siphoned $171,000 from burglarized mailboxes, federal officials say

Three men have been federally indicted in a mail-fraud scheme that allowed them to siphon more than $171,000 worth of checks and money orders from mailboxes in Drexel Hill, according to court documents unsealed this week.

Sam Wolo, 21, and Bruno Nyanue, 20, of Philadelphia; and Gransae Manue, 20, of Clifton Heights, have been charged with bank fraud, conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and related offenses. The trio were caught with 370 stolen checks and money orders, eight of which they were able to successfully deposit after altering them to significantly inflated amounts, prosecutors said.

Investigators estimate they deposited more than $73,000 through these altered checks, according to the indictment.

“The United States Postal Service provides an essential service to nearly every American, often conveying income, bills and expenses, which are the basis of many livelihoods,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in a statement. “If you choose to tamper with or steal U.S. mail for any reason, you can be assured that the federal government will conduct an intensive investigation and aggressive prosecution, as we intend to in this case.”

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Attorneys for Wolo and Nyanue did not return requests for comment Tuesday. It was not clear whether Manue had hired a lawyer.

Authorities say the scheme began in December when the group robbed a Postal Service letter carrier, stealing a specialized key that granted them access to mailboxes in Drexel Hill.

They recruited other, unnamed coconspirators over social media, asking them to provide the group with their account numbers and other financial information, the indictment said. The stolen checks would then be “washed” to include the conspirator’s name, and would be deposited into their account. After that transaction, a portion of the money would be transferred to the trio running the operation.

A similar scheme was discovered by federal authorities earlier this year in Yeadon, a town about three miles east of Drexel Hill.

In that investigation, Naod Tsegay, 22, of Collingdale, and Fode Bangoura, 20, and Zyier Williams, 19, both of Philadelphia, were charged in June with altering dozens of checks placed in mailboxes, increasing their nominal amounts to several thousand dollars.

Like the three implicated in the Drexel Hill fraud, Tsegay and his codefendants used stolen Postal Service keys to access the checks, according to court records.

All told, the group is estimated to have stolen more than $200,000 using this method. Their case is pending trial in federal court.

A spokesperson for Romero’s office said Tuesday that there is no indication that the two theft rings are connected.

Staff writer Jeremy Roebuck contributed to this article.