Crime & Safety

Dayton Mail Carrier Charged in Connection with Tax Refund Scheme

Bennie H. Haynes was charged with one count each of theft of government property, bribery and mail theft by a postal employee.

A Dayton mail carrier was arrested and charged today in connection with a scheme to provide addresses to be used for filing fraudulent tax returns and diverting refund checks from his mail route in exchange for payment, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Bennie H. Haynes, 52, of Dayton, was charged with one count each of theft of government property, bribery and mail theft by a postal employee.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, from June 20 to Oct. 19, 2011, Haynes met several times with an undercover law enforcement agent who claimed to be engaged in a scheme to acquire income tax refund checks generated through filing phony individual income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

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Haynes then allegedly agreed to participate in the scheme by providing the agent with addresses located along his mail route in Somerset, according to the U.S. attorney. The addresses were to be used for filing false tax returns and then diverting the subsequent tax refund checks from the mail stream.

Theft of government property carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The charge of bribery carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of mail theft by a postal employee carries a maximum sentence of five years, and a fine of $250,000.

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Haynes was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Waldor in Newark federal court.


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