East Orange man wanted for mail theft, bank fraud scheme

EAST ORANGE, NJ — An East Orange man and an Iselin man have been charged in connection with two criminal complaints charging them with scheming with U.S. Postal Service employees and others to commit mail theft, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced Aug. 26.

Adeeb Salih, 29, of East Orange, and Yaseen Salih, 24, of Iselin, were charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail theft and to possess stolen mail, and aggravated identity theft. Yaseen Salih was arrested Aug. 26, made his initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre M. Espinosa and was detained. Adeeb Salih remains at large. 

Hakir Brown, 27, of Newark, was arrested Aug. 26 and charged by way of a separate complaint with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail theft and to possess stolen mail, and aggravated identity theft. 

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, USPS employees Khadijah Banks Oneal, 30, of Newark, and Ashley Taylor, 27, of Bronx, N.Y., stole envelopes containing credit cards, checks and U.S. Treasury checks from the mail. From Dec. 12, 2020, to July 31, 2021, Taylor sold stolen mail to Yaseen Salih; from Jan. 30, 2020, until her arrest on July 28, 2021, Banks Oneal sold stolen mail to Jahad Salter, 25, and Dashaun Brown, 30, both of Newark, and supplied stolen mail to Hakir Brown. According to reports, Yaseen Salih and Adeeb Salih, Hakir Brown, Salter and Banks Oneal fraudulently posed as the account holders of stolen credit cards, called the banks that issued the stolen credit cards and used personal identifying information belonging to the account holder to obtain or change information about the stolen credit cards. They then used the stolen credit cards to, among other things, make purchases at retail stores in New Jersey and elsewhere, resulting in attempted losses of more than $300,000. Adeeb Salih allegedly deposited stolen checks into bank accounts that were under his control to obtain the checks’ proceeds.

Banks Oneal, Salter, Dashaun Brown and Taylor have also been arrested and charged for their alleged roles in the scheme.

The charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud each carry a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million. The charges of mail theft and possession of stolen U.S. mail, and conspiracy to commit that offense, each carry a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any sentence imposed for bank fraud, and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proved guilty.

  Fraud, U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Postal Service