Newark Resident Admits Bank Fraud Conspiracy

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man admitted his role in a scheme to steal checks sent through the mail and commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Malachi Jefferson, 25, of Newark, pleaded guilty on April 22, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Julien X. Neals in Newark federal court to an information charging him with bank fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From April 2022 through November 2022, Jefferson’s conspirator, a U.S. Postal Service employee, stole checks from a Keansburg, New Jersey, post office. Jefferson and his conspirators then worked to deposit the stolen checks in order to fraudulently obtain more than $150,000 from the victim financial institutions.

The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept 9, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents with the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, Northeast Area Field Office; postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Inspector Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, officers with the Keansburg Police Department, under the direction of Chief Andrew Gogan, the Hazlet Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Robert Mulligan, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Special Prosecutions Division.