A Washington, D.C., postal worker was found guilty last week of stealing over $1.6 million worth of U.S. Treasury and private party checks from the mail to fund a “lavish lifestyle,” officials said.
Hachikosela Muchimba, 44, was an employee at the U.S. Postal Service. Between Dec. 2020 and March 2023, Muchimba deposited altered checks into bank accounts under his control, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, on Friday.
Bank surveillance footage captured him making deposits and withdrawals of the funds, the release said.
Muchimba used the proceeds from his scheme “to fund a lavish lifestyle that included international travel, stays at luxury hotels, and purchases at gentlemen’s clubs,” the Attorney’s Office said.
A jury on Thursday found Muchimba guilty of conspiracy to commit theft of mail and bank fraud, theft of mail, bank fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity. The maximum penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in prison and five years for mail theft.
Muchimba was also found guilty of unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization. He falsely told U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers that he had not committed any crimes for which he had not been arrested when applying to become a naturalized citizen. This offense has a maximum penalty of 10 years of incarceration and possible administrative denaturalization.
Muchimba is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 8 and will remain in custody until that time.
