A former U.S. Postal Service employee has been found guilty of stealing checks, including tax refund checks, from customers on his route. Hachikosela Muchimba, 44, of Washington, D.C., allegedly pocketed over $1.6 million in stolen checks, according to U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Kathleen Woodson, of the U.S. Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General.
According to court documents, Muchimba was a mail carrier employed by the Postal Service from February 2020 until he was placed on an off-duty (without pay) status in March 2023. His assigned mail route was Route 23 at the Friendship Post Office Station in Washington, D.C.
Over two years, the defendant stole checks—many of them U.S. Treasury checks—from the mail intended for delivery to residents of Washington, D.C.
Muchimba then deposited nearly 100 checks, which he either altered or falsely endorsed, into bank accounts at seven different financial institutions, including Citibank, TD Bank, and JP Morgan. Those accounts were either in his name or under his control (some were owned by Double Blue Investments, LLC, with Muchimba as a signer—Muchimba’s name and address also appear on the LLC’s initial paperwork). In some instances, Muchimba altered some of the checks by removing the name of the proper payee on the checks and replacing it with his name. Bank surveillance footage captured images of him making deposits and withdrawals of the funds—in some of the footage, he’s wearing his U.S. Postal Service work clothes.
At least 90 of the checks were U.S. Treasury checks, including tax refunds. In 2023, the IRS issued 120.9 million refunds, amounting to more than $461.2 billion. Last year, nearly 91% of all refunds were issued by Direct Deposit—so far this season, nearly 97% of refunds have been issued by Direct Deposit. The IRS encourages taxpayers to use Direct Deposit, claiming it’s the easiest, safest and fastest way to receive your refund.
The investigation into Muchimba began in January 2023, after a postal customer who resides in Washington, D.C., reported that his U.S. Treasury check had been stolen from the mail—that check was deposited into another account. At around the same time, law enforcement identified five U.S. Treasury checks that had been fraudulently negotiated into an account at TD Bank.
A postal customer provided law enforcement with a copy of the check endorsed as “pay to order of Hachikosela Khose Muchimba,” together with a mailing address. Remarkably, the customer recognized the name and the address on the U.S. Treasury check as the same name and address that his mail carrier, Muchimba, had used on a holiday card provided to the residents on his mail route in December 2022.
While investigating Muchimba, the government learned that he recruited at least one other postal worker to assist him in his scheme. That postal worker has admitted that Muchimba recruited her to steal checks for him. In September 2023, Muchimba paid the worker $1,000 via CashApp for stealing a check from the mail for him.
The government alleged that Muchimba used the proceeds of the stolen checks to fund a lavish lifestyle that included international travel, stays at luxury hotels, and purchases at gentlemen’s clubs.
On March 13, 2025, a jury found Muchimba guilty of 20 counts, including conspiracy to commit theft of mail and bank fraud, theft of mail, bank fraud, engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, and unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization.
Muchimba’s sentencing will be before U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras on August 8, 2025. He faces up to 30 years in prison for bank fraud and five years for mail theft.
In addition to sentencing, Muchimba may face other consequences. As part of becoming a naturalized citizen, Muchimba was required to attest that he had never “committed, assisted in committing, or attempted to commit, a crime or offense for which [he was] NOT arrested.” However, at that time, Muchimba had already stolen and deposited no less than 28 checks from postal customers into his accounts. That offense carries a maximum penalty of ten years and possible administrative denaturalization.
Muchimba is being held in custody after the government successfully argued that he was a flight risk. On September 20, 2023, a few weeks after Muchimba met with law enforcement, he booked travel using a card in someone else’s name on an outbound flight to Zambia. Law enforcement immediately sought an arrest warrant and arrested Muchimba at Dulles International Airport just before he boarded a flight to Zambia. At the time of his arrest, Muchimba had $2,000 in his luggage and was carrying a new Zambian passport.
An attorney representing Muchimba declined to comment.
Your mail is typically safe. The Postal Service provides mail service to almost 153 million customers six days a week with relatively few incidents. Before 2020, mail theft from mail receptacles—like mailboxes—was primarily perpetrated through forced entry or using fishing devices. However, that changed as the Post Office strengthened the physical security of blue collection boxes.
According to a 2023 report, the Postal Service has experienced significant growth in mail theft from mail receptacles. There was an 87% increase in reports of high-volume mail theft from mail receptacles, with 20,574 reports in 2019 and 38,535 reports in 2022. That growth, the agency said, likely has been driven by a marked shift by organized criminal groups towards the perpetration of low-risk, high-reward financial crimes.
At the same time, there was a marked increase in letter carrier robberies—a 543% boost in letter carrier robberies between 2019 and 2022, with 64 letter carrier robberies in 2019 and 412 letter carrier robberies in 2022.
The Postal Service has ramped up efforts to address these spikes in crime. In 2023, there were 4,728 arrests (and 4,103 convictions), primarily focused on crimes involving prohibited mail, mail theft, and assaults and robberies of employees.
A statement on its website makes clear “The Postal Inspection Service works aggressively and takes all practicable measures to ensure the sanctity and security of the U.S. Mail.”
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