Ex-postal worker in Massachusetts accused of stealing $330,000-plus from people in their 70s, 80s

Rick Sobey, Boston Herald on Aug 29, 2025

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BOSTON — A former postal worker is accused of stealing more than $330,000 from people in their 70s and 80s — and then using that stolen cash to pay for a pool patio, Caribbean cruise expenses, escorts, and more.

Pembroke man Scott Kelley, 51, also allegedly stole cash from an evidence locker and then blamed another postal inspector for the missing cash.

Kelley was arrested by the feds on Friday and was charged in a 45-count indictment returned by a Boston grand jury. That includes 23 counts of money laundering.

Kelley was a postal inspector at the Boston Division headquarters of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. He was the team leader of the Mail Fraud Unit, which investigated lottery and other scams that targeted senior citizens and other vulnerable populations.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was running a crime-prevention program — called Jamaican Operations Linked to Telemarketing (JOLT) — to disrupt mail fraud scams originating in Jamaica that targeted U.S. residents with false promises of sweepstakes or lottery winnings.

Posing as lottery representatives, scammers contacted vulnerable victims and persuaded them to mail funds to pay “fees” or “taxes” that they supposedly needed to front before they could collect their prize.

Postal inspectors working on the JOLT program were authorized to intercept packages suspected to have been sent by scam victims. However, they were authorized to open a package only with the sender’s consent — otherwise, they were required to mail the package back to the sender.

If a sender allowed USPIS to open the package and it contained cash, the inspector was required to count the cash with another inspector present as a witness — and then have the cash converted into an official check payable to the sender.

According to the indictment, Kelley allegedly used deceptive emails to cause postal employees to intercept packages that a USPIS algorithm had flagged as likely having been mailed by JOLT scam victims and then send them to him.

In total, Kelley allegedly requested that about 1,950 packages get intercepted and mailed to him. Kelley allegedly opened intercepted parcels that looked or felt like they might contain cash, and he’s accused of stealing any cash inside.

The average age of the victims was 75, with the oldest victim being 82. The victims mailed between $1,400 and $19,100 cash.

Kelley allegedly met with one victim in person and told them that that he did not know what had happened with their package, and that their loss was their own fault because they had mailed cash.

He also allegedly used a postal employee’s keypad code to unlock and enter an evidence vault at USPIS. Once inside, Kelley allegedly used another postal inspector’s key to open an evidence locker and steal $7,000 in cash.

He then allegedly wrote a memo blaming the other postal inspector for the missing $7,000, which resulted in a USPS Office of Inspector General investigation. Kelley is accused of lying to investigators when questioned about the stolen cash, and he placed the blame on the other postal inspector – who was one of his direct reports.

Kelley allegedly deposited and spent almost $340,000 cash – and did so in ways designed to hide the fact that he had stolen it. He allegedly used almost $160,000 of the stolen cash to buy postal money orders, most of which he deposited into his own bank accounts or used to pay credit card bills.

On more than 20 of those money orders, Kelley allegedly tried to hide the fact that he was both the payee and the purchaser by falsely listing certain relatives as the purchasers. He deposited over $130,000 of the stolen cash into his bank accounts, but allegedly tried to avoid bank suspicion by spreading the deposits over 60 dates using four different bank accounts at two separate banks.

Kelley allegedly used some of the stolen cash to pay for: the installation of a patio around his pool ($20,500); heating his pool ($2,000); a granite countertop installed on his outdoor bar ($2,800); lights installed around his pool and outdoor bar ($4,888); bar drinks and other expenses from three Caribbean cruises ($4,300); and sexual services provided by two escorts who he texted using a burner phone and who he met during workdays ($15,400).

He was indicted on five counts of wire fraud; five counts of mail fraud; five counts of mail theft by a postal officer; one count of theft of government money; 23 counts of money laundering; one count of structuring to evade reporting requirements; and five counts of filing false tax returns.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is urging people who believe they may be victims of this case or other elder fraud scams to contact USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.

Suspected mail fraud can also be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service online or by calling 877-876-2455.

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