07/31/2025

St. Louis Postal Worker Admits Stealing Checks from Mail, Pandemic Fraud

United States Attorney's Office Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – A former U.S. Postal Service mail handler on Wednesday admitted committing pandemic fraud and stealing checks from hundreds of pieces of mail.

Anthony Virdure II, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft and one count of wire fraud.

On Dec. 1, 2023, U.S. Postal Inspectors were called to the Hazelwood Police Department to examine 30 stolen checks that were found in a rental vehicle when it was returned. The postal inspectors determined that the checks had been routed through the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center at 1720 Market Street in St. Louis, where Virdure worked as a mail handler. He had access to all first-class mail routed through the center. Virdure’s fingerprints were found on one check that he’d removed from a letter that he’d stolen.

On Jan. 3, 2024, the Frontenac Police Department contacted postal inspectors about checks that had been left behind when a tenant vacated an apartment in St. Louis. All the checks had been routed through the Processing and Distribution Center where Virdure worked, and his fingerprints were found on one of the checks.

On April 30, 2024, law enforcement agents conducted a court-approved search of an apartment and found 298 more stolen checks, many with Virdure’s fingerprints.

The total value of the checks stolen by the defendant was $68,486.