Mailman 'clipped' coupons

Stole & sold 'em: cops

SELIM ALGAR

Last Updated: 6:51 AM, January 29, 2011

Posted: 1:02 AM, January 29, 2011

Citing pressure from an impending foreclosure, a Queens postal worker stole thousands of retail-store coupons before they were mailed out -- and sold them at a discount on eBay, cops said yesterday.

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 the Internet auction site.

Working out of the Corona branch, Tang told investigators that he netted roughly $35,000 from the sale of JCPenney coupons between October 2009 and January of this year.

The father of two advertised batches of mailers that offered $10 dollars off JCPenney merchandise and sold them at steep discounts online, according to court papers. Authorities are investigating how much he netted from the similar sale of other store coupons from outlets like Kohl's and Lowe's.

Dennis Clark

ROUTE & WRONG: Queens postman Thomas Tang allegedly hoarded coupons (left) he was supposed to deliver on his route.

"I have two small children, and my wife is pregnant," he told cops, according to court documents. "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 fore closed on."

With his tearful wife looking on, the 13-year veteran of the postal service pleaded not guilty yesterday to felony grand larceny and was held on $10,000 bail.

"I just got back from the hospital," his wife said as she left court. "I'm really tired right now. I can't say anything."

Nassau police busted Tang after being approached by JCPenney loss-prevention officials and postal-service investigators, who uncovered his unusual scheme.

Tang, who allegedly pilfered coupons from the Corona office and stacks he dispersed on his route, told investigators that he sold them through his wife's eBay account but that she was ignorant of the crime.

His lawyer, Robert Parker, said at his arraignment that Tang had a spotless record prior to his arrest. "I'm not going to minimize it," he said of the scheme, ". . . but it's certainly not your typical crime."

Parker added that Tang never tampered with first-class mail.

But prosecutor Matthew Lafargue asked the judge for substantial bail and said that stealing from a federal institution and profiting from the proceeds was a serious felony offense.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/mailman_clipped_coupons_gaxEtlqyggJqIq1pVvu3dK#ixzz1COzumk4y