Middleman In Fraudulent Money Order Cashing Scheme Pleads Guilty

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Knoxville, Tennessee, resident today admitted recruiting individuals to cash fraudulent money orders that he received from a former South Jersey U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Eugene Bowen, 35, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an information charging him with one count of transmitting and presenting unlawfully issued USPS money orders with intent to defraud the United States.  

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Bowen admitted that Marc Saunders, 39, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, a former employee at the USPS branch in New Lisbon, New Jersey, provided him with stolen money orders and told him to recruit others to cash them. Bowen admitted that he recruited individuals to cash the money orders and paid them a small fee, while keeping the rest of the money for Saunders and himself.  

The charge for transmitting and presenting unlawfully issued USPS money orders carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 fine. Bowen’s sentencing is scheduled for March 21, 2018.

On Dec. 12, 2017, Saunders pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, including producing the money orders with a stolen imprinting machine and giving them to others to cash. His sentencing is set for March 20, 2018.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the USPS, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kenneth M. Cleevely of the Eastern Area Field Office, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alyson M. Oswald of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense counsel: John Brennan Esq., Marlton, New Jersey