Dayton mail carrier arrested for fraud

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A Dayton mail carrier was arrested and charged in connection with a fraudulent tax refund scheme on Jan. 24, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Bennie Haynes, a 52-year-old U.S. Postal Service worker, allegedly provided addresses, in exchange for payment, that were used to file fraudulent tax returns and divert refund checks from his mail route. He was charged with one count each of theft of government property, bribery and mail theft by a postal employee.

Haynes met numerous times with an undercover law enforcement agent, who purported to be engaged in a scheme to obtain income tax refund checks generated through the filing of phony individual income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In exchange for $3,000, Haynes agreed to provide addresses located along his mail route in Somerset.

According to the U.S. District Court’s criminal complaint, Haynes met with the undercover agent four times and the meetings were consensually recorded. Haynes requested payment of $500 per refund check diverted from the mail stream, which he admitted he had received for participation in a similar scheme in the past.

The illegal action allegedly took place from June 20 to Oct. 19, 2011.

The charge of theft of government property carries a statutory maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison, the charge of bribery carries a 15-year maximum, and the charge of mail theft by a postal employee carries a five-year maximum. All three charges also carry a maximum $250,000 fine .

Agents of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General made the arrest. Fishman credited the agents, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Rafael Medina, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also thanked inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett, and special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge JoAnn S. Zuniga.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mala Ahuja Harker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark is representing the government. Haynes was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Waldor in federal court in Newark.