Philadelphia mail handler accused of stealing 112 US Treasury checks while on job

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia mail processing clerk is currently off the job after authorities say he stole 112 pieces of mail containing United States Treasury checks earlier this summer.

According to court documents filed this month, the theft happened on August 4 at the Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center located at 7500 Lindbergh Boulevard.

The suspect, identified as Saahir Irby, was arrested on Wednesday on mail theft charges.

Court documents state that Irby has worked as a mail handler at the Lindbergh Boulevard center since 2021, where he operates mail sorting machines.

The Office of Inspector General said Irby was placed on "emergency placement" on Wednesday and that he is not currently working for the USPS.

A criminal complaint alleges that Irby was seen on surveillance video taking handfuls of mail while working in the early morning hours of August 4 inside the Philadelphia facility. The distribution center is responsible for processing both outbound U.S. Treasury checks printed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service in Philadelphia, as well as any U.S. Treasury check issued nationwide that has been marked "return to sender."

Authorities say Irby had access to machines and bins sorting these checks, which include social security benefit payments and tax refund payments.

Irby reportedly clocked in for work at 10:19 p.m. on August 3.

The alleged theft happened from 2:47 a.m. to 4:49 a.m. the next morning, according to investigators.

All 112 envelopes were later recovered on August 7 in a vehicle outside the Rivers Casino in Fishtown.

According to the criminal complaint, a man was seen on video wearing latex gloves handling the envelopes. Four of the checks were opened and all of them were addressed to people across southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Office of Inspector General could not reveal how much they were worth in total.

"This type of alleged behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior," said a spokesperson for the Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

The man who was found to be in possession of the checks is a person of interest in connection with an armed robbery at another casino in March, investigators said. He has not been identified because he has not yet been charged with a crime.

Authorities say barcodes on four of the checks were processed and scanned on the same machine, which was in the vicinity of where Irby was spotted on video.

Further details on how he allegedly sold the checks are still under investigation.