Postal Worker Arrested For Stealing, Selling Coupons

A U.S. Postal Service employee who worked in the Corona, Queens facility was arrested for stealing department store coupons and selling them online. According to the Post, "Thomas Tang, 38, of Baldwin, Long Island, allegedly pilfered more than 7,000 coupons from JCPenney, Kohl's and Lowe's and sold them in batches on" eBay—he estimated he made about $35,000 between October 2009 and this month just on the JC Penney coupons. And what drove him to this desperate act?

Tang told investigators, "I have two small children, and my wife is pregnant. I also have a mortgage, and I have to pay cash for my chil dren's baby sitter. I did not want this to happen, but it was the only way I could avoid having my house foreclosed on."

The Nassau County Police, which were approached by JC Penney's loss prevention division and postal inspectors, explained the scheme, "He was taking these coupons out of the mail and selling them on eBay in packets of, maybe, 10 for a substantial discount. People would bid on them and they weren't close to the actual price that J.C. Penney's would lose on each coupon ... If he was stealing these, then any amount of money he was selling them for was a profit for him."

Tang pleaded not guilty to second-degree grand larceny and is being held on $10,000 bail; his lawyer told the Post, "I'm not going to minimize it... but it's certainly not your typical crime."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 29, 2011 4:38 PM

Comments [rss]

heyhohey

not surprised at all. Our Christmas cards were all opened in our mailbox, I'm assuming they were looking for cash. Similar things have happened before to our household.

diablofreak

im surprised no one got to steal those starbucks free drinks postcards yet - you can order like a $10 venti 6-shot espresso drink with those cards, no questions asked.

souper_crackers

At the same turn, how many people actually regard these coupons?

virgilstarkwell

ok, i get that it's wrong to take other people's mail - but this is a pretty victimless crime. jc penney (who knew they were still in business?!) is still giving the same discount off the crap they sell - they're just not giving it to the people they thought they were. in fact, you can make an argument that they're selling even more crap because someone who buys bulk coupons on ebay is more likely to use them than some schmo who receives them in his copy of the ny post.

the ebay consumer is obviously coming out ahead, ebay is making money, paypal is making money - who is really damaged by tang's actions?

JeanneNYC

He's stealing peoples' mail. The addresses might actually *want* their mail, you know.

virgilstarkwell

the overwhelming majority of people throw out their junk mail. if a direct mail promotion gets a 3% response, the makers of it dance in the streets.

so 3 out of 100 people can't save 10% on a pair of gabardine slacks but this guy can pay his mortgage? i'm ok with that.

cr17

Does he have any Bed Bath and Beyond coupons? Impossible to get those in Manhattan likely because they know New Yorkers don't mind paying through the nose for everything...