Feds in Detroit crack $63 million caper involving alleged mail thieves

Robert Snell, The Detroit News on May 23, 2025

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DETROIT — A band of alleged mail thieves stole $63 million worth of checks from the U.S. Postal Service and sold them on the black market, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Federal court records describe an inside job from October 2022 through December 2023 that involved four people, including a popular Metro Detroit rapper and two U.S. Postal Service employees accused of stealing checks as well as other "negotiable instruments" deposited in the mail. That included a large volume of IRS tax refund checks.

The checks were, in turn, given to co-conspirators on consignment before being sold on Telegram Messenger, a cloud-based instant messaging service. The checks were sold on two Telegram channels: “Whole Foods Slipsss” and “Uber Eats Slips."

The stolen checks — known on the street as "slips" — were sold at a deep discount, often for pennies on the dollar, prosecutors allege.

“When public employees break the public trust, they enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer and undermine the institution itself," Interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement. "We will find and prosecute those who exploit their position for personal gain."

Four people were charged with conspiracy to aid and abet bank and wire fraud, a 30-year felony. They were charged in a criminal information, a type of federal charge that indicates a guilty plea is expected soon.

Those charged are:

∎ Rapper Jaiswan Williams, 31, of Rochester Hills, who prosecutors say was the administrator of the "Whole Foods Slipsss" channel, which advertised high-dollar stolen checks

∎ Daquan Foreman, 30, of Eastpointe, who was the "Uber Eats Slips" channel administrator, according to the government.

∎ Vanessa Hargrove, 39, of Detroit, a mail processing clerk at the postal service's Detroit Processing & Distribution Center.

∎ Ohio resident Crystal Jenkins,31, of Detroit, a mail processing clerk at the postal service's Dayton Processing & Distribution Center in Ohio.

Williams' lawyer, Steve Fishman, declined comment Friday. Lawyers for the others were not listed in court records.

Subscribers to the Telegram channels would buy the checks using various methods, including the mobile financial services platforms Cash App and Apple Pay and Bitcoin.

"The total face value of the checks posted to 'Whole Foods Slipsss' and 'Uber Eats Slips' during the time period covered by the information was over $63 million," according to the criminal case.

People who bought the checks would try to deposit them at banks and use information found on the checks to create counterfeit checks, according to the government.

Williams also is accused of laundering money generated by the conspiracy and wire fraud by illegally obtaining pandemic assistance.

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