USPS worker stole Menards rebate checks worth thousands from mail in Wisconsin, feds say
A Menards shopper was expecting to receive a rebate check from the home improvement store, but it never arrived, authorities said.
The woman in Cumberland, Wisconsin, called Menards and learned her rebate check had already been spent, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin.
She called police in June 2022, prompting an investigation into the theft, officials said in an Aug. 10 news release.
Investigators found store surveillance footage that showed a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier using the woman’s stolen check, according to court records.
Authorities said the mail carrier was then linked to the disappearance of 30 other Menards rebate checks.
“When possible, Menards pulled footage of the transactions when the 30 checks were redeemed, which showed the defendant buying items, such as tools, clothing, and snacks,” according to the USPS employee’s signed plea agreement.
Prosecutors said all but two of the stolen checks were part of his mail delivery route from early April to late May 2022. The other two checks should have been delivered to P.O. boxes to which the worker had access.
The 31 checks were worth a combined $4,547.84, officials said. Individual losses to each victim ranged from $1.76 to $1,061.69.
The defense attorney who represented the 38-year-old Cumberland man said he had no comment on the case.
The mail carrier pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of theft of mail while a U.S. Postal Service employee, records show.
On Aug. 10, he was sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to pay $4,547.84 in restitution.
McClatchy News requested comment from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and Menards.
Menards often offers mail-in rebates to shoppers.
Cumberland is in northwest Wisconsin and about 90 miles northeast of Minneapolis.
This story was originally published August 11, 2023 at 11:50 AM with the headline "USPS worker stole Menards rebate checks worth thousands from mail in Wisconsin, feds say."