A woman admitted Thursday that she bribed an Essex County mail carrier to steal keys that open mail boxes and receptacles and used the stolen items to fraudulently obtain bank funds, federal prosecutors said.
Halimatou Ndiaye, 27, of the Bronx, New York, offered the unidentified postal employees in East Orange and Newark cash, typically $5,000, in exchange for the them giving her and another person, who also not identified, a postal arrow key, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office. From June to July 2021, Ndiaye and the other person drove to various locations in the Essex County cities, where they stopped the carriers and handed them a note indicating they would pay them in exchange for the keys.
She admitted that she used stolen checks and bank cards to draw funds from bank accounts linked to the stolen items and using the identification of others to illegally obtain funds, the office said.
She pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to one count of bribery of U.S. Postal Service mail carriers and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, authorities said. She now faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and a potential $1 million fine when she is sentenced later this year.
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
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