A 28-year-old Houston man already free on a $600,000 bond in a murder case is now accused of running a nearly $24 million check-theft ring, by recruiting U.S. Postal Service mail carriers to steal checks off their own routes and selling the loot on Telegram.
Tryston Tremaine Vaughn, 28, is alleged to have recruited USPS mail carriers to steal checks on their delivery routes, the DOJ said in an August 25 statement.
Those checks were then allegedly bought from the postal workers by Vaughn and others, advertised on a Telegram channel called “slipsandchips,” and shipped to buyers across the country via FedEx.
Prosecutors say the haul totaled approximately $23,973,338.15. One stolen check was for $1.5 million.