Supervisor catches Detroit mail carrier using his route to defraud government, per officials
A Detroit man is facing federal charges in an alleged scheme to defraud government unemployment insurance programs in multiple states.
DETROIT – A Detroit man is facing federal charges in an alleged scheme to defraud government unemployment insurance programs in multiple states.
Christopher Powell faces federal charges of mail fraud and wire fraud for allegedly stealing from government unemployment insurance (UI) programs and obtaining unemployment benefits by false pretenses.
The investigation began in April 2024 when a supervisor at the Jefferson Station Post Office in Detroit became aware that Powell appeared to be receiving mail addressed to homes along his delivery route. Court documents said Powell did not live along his assigned route.
The supervisor contacted the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) to investigate.
On April 2, 2024, authorities interviewed Powell at the Jefferson Station Post Office, where he claimed he applied and received UI benefits from Michigan in 2022 while he was on approved “COVID leave” from the USPS.
He also told authorities that he had not received UI benefits from any other state, but later reportedly admitted that a friend applied for UI benefits in California on his behalf using his personal identifying information.
Law enforcement showed Powell several pieces of mail addressed to him at addresses along his delivery route. He reportedly admitted to using vacant addresses along his route to have mail delivered to him instead of his own address. One of the pieces of mail was an opened Bank of America California EDD Debit Card under his name that was mailed to an address along his delivery route.
The statement was for the time period Dec. 26, 2023, through Jan. 25, 2024. According to court documents, the bank statement detailed over $25,000 in debits, consisting of ATM withdrawals and Cash App transfers.
Powell reportedly admitted to owning the debit card associated with the Bank of America account. According to authorities, Powell made about 10 ATM withdrawals from the Bank of America account into his personal Cash App account.
Powell said that his agreement with his friend was that he would get $10,000 from the California UI claim, and his friend would get $8,500 to $9,000. Powell received about $20,000 from the California UI claim, including another two or three transfers into his personal bank account earlier in 2024. Each transfer was for around $5,000.
On Feb. 10, 2025, authorities interviewed Powell’s friend, who denied filing fraudulent UI claims and denied that he provided anyone else’s identifying information to file any fraudulent UI claims.
Investigators searched a database containing information on UI applications and benefit disbursements for claims related to Powell.
The database revealed that there were eight separate UI claims matching Powell’s social security number and birthdate that were filed in eight different states—Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania—between July 8, 2020, and Sept. 21, 2020.
Here’s a breakdown of three of the eight UI claims:
- Arizona: $24,576.00 in UI benefits
- California: $63,137.00 in UI benefits
- Michigan: $21,320.00 in UI benefits
