ST. LOUIS (KTVI) — An ex-U.S. Postal Service worker appeared in federal court this week and admitted stealing checks from hundreds of pieces of mail, as well as to committing pandemic loan fraud.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Anthony Virdure II, 30, stole the checks while working at the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center located at 1720 Market Street.
The Hazelwood Police Department contacted U.S. Postal Inspectors on Dec. 1, 2023, to examine 30 stolen checks that had been left behind in a recently returned rental vehicle. The stolen checks had been routed through the distribution center in Downtown West. Vindure’s fingerprints were found on one check from a letter that he’d stolen.
On Jan. 3, 2024, the Frontenac Police Department contacted U.S. Postal Inspectors about checks that had been discovered in a vacated apartment. Each of the checks had been routed through the same distribution center where Vindure worked. His fingerprints were discovered on one of the checks.
On April 30, 2024, prosecutors said law enforcement searched an apartment where Vindure was staying and found an additional 298 stolen checks, many of which had Vindure’s fingerprints.
The stolen checks had a combined face value of more than $1.5 million. The total value of stolen checks containing Vindure’s fingerprints was $68,486.
Vindure also admitted in court to applying for and receiving $20,832 from the Pandemic Protection Program loan in 2021. He received the loan for a tobacco store called Virdure Dynamics, but the application contained false information about the business’ income and address.
He included a false address on the application that was later identified as his grandmother’s house.
Vindure pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft and one count of wire fraud. He’ll be sentenced on Nov. 30. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for wire fraud, and up to five years and a $250,000 fine for mail theft.
