A post office worker in Philadelphia has been charged with allegedly stealing nearly $29,000 intended for customer money orders, city prosecutors said Monday.
Felicia Townsend, 35, of the 400 block of North Simpson Street in West Philadelphia, was arrested Sept. 30 and charged with receiving stolen property, theft, unlawful use of a computer, and tampering with public records.
Townsend allegedly voided money orders after the customer left the post office and then pocketed the money, prosecutors said.
In January, the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General received a complaint that money orders had been cashed but had not been reported as sold or issued at two Center City post offices, prosecutors said.
An investigation found that Townsend allegedly stole $28,642.31 in voided money orders between Oct. 19, 2013, and April 8.
"Townsend was even recorded on surveillance tapes making the transactions and then voiding the orders," the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case, said in a statement. She has been released on her own recognizance.