Former KC postal worker pleads guilty to depositing stolen checks in 2023
A former U.S. Postal Service employee pleaded guilty to attempted bank fraud in federal court Thursday. She was charged with depositing stolen checks into her bank account in Kansas City in 2023.
Shawneasha L. Watson, 30, could face up to 30 years in federal prison, Dave Ketchmark, an executive assistant for U.S. Attorney R. Matthew Price, said in a news release Friday.
According to a federal grand jury indictment, a friend approached Watson and told her he knew a man who could deposit fraudulent checks into her bank account. He said she would be paid as long as the man could use her account.
Watson began to communicate with the man on WhatsApp, the indictment said. She opened a debit card with CommunityAmerica Credit Union before meeting the man in a grocery store parking lot, where she gave him her debit card information.
On June 7, 2023, a man deposited at least five fraudulent checks bearing Watson’s name into her bank account at an ATM near Swope Park, according to the indictment. The checks totaled more than $4,100.
Watson’s bank account was frozen for suspected fraud days later, and the account was eventually closed by CommunityAmerica Credit Union, the indictment said.
Victims told a Postal Service special agent they had placed the checks into Postal Service collection boxes, and they had not given Watson permission to alter their checks, Price said. The checks were intended to pay various bills, including a medical bill and mortgage payment.
At the time of the incident, Watson was listed as an employee of the Postal Service, the indictment said.
While investigating the incident, investigators also discovered Watson had previously filed a Pandemic Paycheck Protection loan for around $21,000 under “false pretenses” in 2021, Ketchmark said.
The loan application allegedly said Watson was “the sole proprietor of a men’s clothing business, and she needed the money to cover her payroll expenses,” Ketchmark said.
Later, she admitted the story was false, and said she had spent the money on herself, Ketchmark said.
A sentencing hearing has not been set, Ketchmark said.
