Two former employees of the JFK Airport post office have been arrested on charges of stealing mail containing COVID-19 stimulus checks and tax refund checks and depositing them into their own accounts.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Kivon Wellington (31) and Kai-Mani Straker (24) stole 125 COVID-19 stimulus checks and tax refund checks while working at the JFK Airport mail sorting facility between June 2021 and August 2023, making at least $4 million in financial gain.
Straker is also accused of stealing numerous checks made out to overseas recipients between August 29 and September 1, 2022. Prosecutors charged Wellington and Straker with theft of federal funds and mail theft, and set bail for them at $75,000 and $50,000, respectively.