Every year, millions of Americans troop to the post office for the mundane task of diverting their mail to a new address.
But the mundane turned extraordinary in the case of Dushaun Spruce. Last October, Spruce allegedly filed a request to shift mail from 55 Glenlake Parkway NE in Atlanta to Spruce’s one-bedroom apartment in Rogers Park.
But the Glenlake Parkway address isn’t Spruce’s former address. It’s the corporate headquarters of global corporate delivery titan United Parcel Service.
So what happened? It would be good to say this peculiar diversion of mail from a corporate headquarters was immediately flagged by astute United States Postal Service employees. One giant clue: Spruce allegedly scratched out his signature and signed the change-of-address form “UPS.”
It would be good to say the local mail carrier grew wary when piles of mail addressed to UPS started showing up at a decidedly non-UPS facility — Spruce’s apartment at 6750 N. Ashland Ave.
It would be good to say letters to UPS’ CEO and other execs, business checks and other sensitive documents didn’t land outside Spruce’s door, in a tub graciously provided by the Postal Service.
But apparently none of that’s the case, according to an affidavit from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
This errant delivery went on not for a day or a week, but three months, reports the Chicago Tribune.
It wasn’t until Spruce allegedly deposited nearly $60,000 in checks into his bank account in late January that postal officials alerted UPS to the alleged scam, court papers say.
Spruce hasn’t been charged and denies wrongdoing.
The scale and boldness of this alleged operation — who’d ever think this scheme could work? — is breathtaking. Identity thieves and hackers steal credit card numbers and other personal information by the gazillions. Porch pirates often cruise neighborhoods to swipe packages delivered by UPS or other services. But stealing mail going to UPS?
Maybe the thought was that UPS wouldn’t miss a few thousand checks or business documents. Maybe a perpetrator counted on the change-of-address request being processed by the U.S. Postal Service, as are thousands of others, without a second glance.
It is hoped the Postal Service earns redemption. Because for now, it looks like some postal employees are mailing it in.
— Chicago Tribune